This week I started working on The Honey Pot Plot, found my serger in the garage (I’d lost it back in NJ, and then it turns up here in PA?), started to sort my yarn so I could find something, did so much laundry I got high off the detergent fumes, got my sweeper running, finally hung the mirror in my hallway (heavy sucker), put up a tack board across from the laundry so I could block crochet pieces on it, experimented with smoothies, did whatever Veronica asked of me, went out to dinner with friends, and read a lot. And yet, there is still so much more to do. And read. ARGH.
What did you do this week?
79 Responses
I’m mostly just working on surviving the day job. We did our system change but online banking still isn’t working properly and people are getting tetchy. On the bright side, my overtime pay is going to be impressive, and I only have six more work days until my yearly long vacation.
The house is a mess, I am behind on Christmas and fall garden prep, but I am trying not to think about it. My husband has excepted the lions share of the cooking, bless him.
The cat drawings continue, but at a slower pace.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA5udNHpAuj/?igsh=N2hjdDFzNXR1dmJm
Hang in there, Lupe. I just survived the Everest of work that made life so stressful for the last couple of weeks (and honestly, months).
Same with the hubby – thankfully he took over cooking during lockdown, it’s his stress-relief tool. And teen son stepped in with cleaning. Two most wonderful human beings for which I’m very grateful.
The usual chaos will commence tomorrow as a lot of urgent work had been postponed that is now even more urgent. Gah. But for now, relief.
I hope things get sorted out. Yay for a long vacation coming up! The online site for my bank comes up looking like a working model, the first time I try to log in. I log in a second time, and it looks professional. The BillPay section does not account for holidays, at all. I have to figure that in, myself. This has been going on for years! Good luck. Maybe it will be fixed by the time you get back. Have a great vacation!
Six weeks can seem like a long time to wait for a vacation when you feel so behind – I know I have been there. Sending hugs
Love your cat drawings – produce a book of them (loads of others have produced books of their cartoons) I would buy it.
Just renovated a bonus room that was an add-on to the house many years ago. It had indoor/outdoor grass carpet glued to the concrete slab. It now has a lovely luxury vinyl flooring and a bed, so we have an extra guest room… which has helped tremendously.
I now want to paint the walls… but that’s a job for another day!
Not working just recovering from surgery.
Trying hard not to do housework. DH is being the absolute gem he is.
But the messes on tables are getting to me. Argh.
Take the time you need to fully recover, please! Housework and messy tables are always with us.
Thank you Judy!
Recovering from surgery definitely qualifies as working. It’s exhausting! Good luck.
It is hard to see things and not be able to fix them, as someone who is still recovering from surgery I can identify. From experience I can say, hold on Margaret – it will get better and the more you rest the quicker you will get back to sorting out the things into the way you want them That said sitting looking at things and not being able to do them sucks.
Sending hugs
I moved a little over 9 months ago. The move happened very quickly and I pretty much live in chaos to start with, so I just threw everything in boxes with the intent of decluttering when I unpacked. This week I have been working hard on my craft room (I have way too many craft items). I am trying to get rid of things that I don’t use anymore, but it’s hard. Unpacking them makes me want to start doing those crafts again. I have made huge strides (although not without causing chaos in a couple of other rooms) and hope to be done by this weekend. I do a three part sort – first I get all of the things that go together in the same location, next I sort each section into a somewhat useable state and finally I do a fine sort so that I know where everything is. I try to declutter at every stage. My goal right now is to just get through the first 2 sorts and be able to see the floor. Possibly even walk around. Maybe find something in under half an hour. The only reason that I think I can do this is that I have moved into a one story house, so people can now see my craft room. In the past I just never let anyone upstairs. 🙂
The local schools might take the items you no longer use. I got rid of a lot of things I started, and then flagged out on, that way, recently. It lightened the load.
I sent entire cartons of craft stuff to my sister when she was a public-school art teacher. Her annual supply budget was $300 for 5 classes of avg 25 students each.
I donated two large boxes of craft supplies to a local teacher last spring. I connected with her through the Buy Nothing group in my neighbourhood. Great way to get things you no longer use out the door.
Jenny, you are an example to us all. I have accomplished very little except reading, but there are no longer dishes waiting to be washed sitting ion the kitchen floor. I take that as a win, even if they’re just in the sink waiting now.
Lots of unpacking followed but lots of organizing. Endless bureaucratic chores. And arranging repairs at the new place.
Put the outdoor furniture away for the winter. Took all the cushions to storage. The container is getting crowded with too much stuff. Decided to get rid of boxes of Mom and sister’s books. Sorted through stuff. Took books to friends of the library. Noticed a cart with boxes of books which was wheeled away to a big mixed paper crusher. So…their books probably ended up in the crusher too.
Found some of mom’s study notes. She had good handwriting. I would love to spend a day with her. Sad she lost her vision to glaucoma. She was a prolific letter writer. Always wrote lovely messages in cards.
Got to get the garden sorted for winter. Making plans for next year. More veg beds.
Madly working on the book due in November. Working on someone else’s book (which is way more fun than working on my own). Prepping for this month’s online witchy class, which is going to be all about Samhain (Halloween) plus a little ritual.
Over the weekend, a couple of friends came to help me put the garden to bed, about 90%. We’re getting close to the end of the season here, and frost could hit as soon as Thursday night. Which is great, but now I have a basket of apples that need to be made into applesauce (the discovery that you could do this in a crockpot changed my life) before they rot, and tons of basil that need to be made into pesto before it dies. Oy.
I love home-made applesauce (eating some right now, in fact)! When apples go on sale in the fall (I don’t have a closer-to-the-farm source), I make as much as I can fit in my freezer (can’t be bothered with actual canning) in jelly jars.
Started off the week strong but have come down with the cold that has bothered DS and DH for the better part of a week. Weather has turned chilly so I pulled out my fall clothes and put away summer stuff. Had to take a 2 hour nap half way through. Made my first Christmas card and started several others. Today is cleaning the house to get ready for my book group tomorrow evening. Expect this will involve several naps.
We had the big event at work (big, big review) that the whole school (well, mainly our department, but the whole school was involved) was working towards for the more or less last x years. The speed of preparation picked up considerably for the last month. Then the culmination of 2,5 days of intense meetings and interviews.
It went better than feared – I guess at least my team was so exhausted that we had no energy left to get nervous. All the colleagues pulled together and we got good feedback. The outcome might be more positive than hoped for.
The very positive side effect: my dear colleage /head of dept. who’s usually working from home came in. She stayed at my place overnight. Very nice long talks at the dinner table. Instant good vibes with hubby. My head of is a great woman and very dear colleague who orchestrated our big event from afar like a highly competent general. Most competent woman I can imagine.
Now that it’a finally over I should be doing the tasks that had been put on the backburner but are urgent all of a sudden (I just ignored their urgency).
Only I feel braindead.
So I will go home early and start tomorrow when I’m feeling fresh again.
And maybe our IT guy might have fixed my computer who – just in time for the big event – went blank on Monday. Great timing. The interims computer-laptop is just not the same since I’m used to having two big screens.
Not much reading done, not much else done – apart from cleaning prior to my colleagues arrival.
Sunday was a planned light-duty day. Monday I paid bills and did light housework. Tuesday I was supposed to go grocery shopping and do more housework and paperwork, but instead I spent most of the day reading. I hope that was needed recovery time and not sheer goofing off, but it’s hard to tell the difference. Shopping and errands are back on the schedule for today.
Patrick, sometimes you need a day to goof off. Don’t judge!
What she said! I don’t think of it as goof off I think of it as part of the process.
On a different subject, by last night’s episode the fictional Gibsons police uniform in Murder in a Small Town clearly had brown shirts, and the same emblem as on the jacket shoulder patches was on the wall of police HQ, legibly reading Gibsons Police, so definitely a mythical police force in a real Canadian town. Plus multiple mentions of US states and none of any Canadian provinces, not even BC itself. I don’t know why the showmakers think that this will increase the “international appeal” of the show. Then again, as the saying goes, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. I don’t think that’s quite true, but still.
I moved multiple boxes of books to load into my car. Not just mine, but also from family members that died. I cannot throw away books! Thank God for ebooks! But here in Baltimore is The Book Thing. They are only open one Saturday a month and all books are free to everyone. That’s also when they take donations. I’ve filled my car quite a few times over the last few years trying to clear things out.
I started buying paperbacks at the nearby newsstand/store when I was still in grade school. Back then they cost 50 or 75 cents each. And I still have some of those because they’re Elizabeth Peters and Robert Heinlein! I actually remember the first book I bought was The Jackal’s Head.
Even though I’m trying to clear almost 60 years of books (plus way too much other stuff) so my niece will have less to deal with when I die, it is hard to let go of old favorites. One benefit is coming across books that I hadn’t read in years. So many books to read, so little time.
I hear you, Wanda. It pains me to throw away books.
Have thrown away old paperbacks from the ancient times of my life. Hard to do, but, it was also releasing that pressed down responsibility gene. Besides, the sons and wives will have to do it. Easier to have less stuff for them deal with when we leave for the great beyond. Executor for four relatives; two sisters left way too much sh*tzen, mama and MIL had done the work.
I’ve continued to plug away at my various projects. I think I must have some form of ADHD since I can distract myself so easily! But more squares are going into the Bullfinch, and more rows on the Islands crochet projects. I’m at work, so no pictures this week.
I did go to the quilt show with my friends on Sunday, which was delightful. Between the four of us, we had entered four quilts and won four ribbons. I was a smidge disappointed that mine didn’t win any though (there were two ribbons on one quilt because two people worked on it). The first comment on the judge’s sheet was that they were disappointed to find cat hair on it. I didn’t think to check that, as I had protected it from being lain upon but oh well – live and learn. On to other things – SQUIRREL!!
Oh, and we had another closet collapse – this time on DH’s side of the closet. His piles of clothes are now festooning the living room. He swears that something happened to this particular pile of shirts in the last 4 years, as they no longer fit. Apparently some magic shrink ray was taken to them! But since he is determined to declutter those, I’ll start cycling them through the washer and getting them ready for donation. Seeing that pile go down will make me feel better.
That shrink ray is ubiquitous!! LOL
Back when I was still entering quilts in shows, I always washed them before mailing/delivering, but I’m quite sure they still had cat fur on them. Pretty sure it spontaneously produces itself in my house, no need for a cat to actually touch a quilt (which of course they do if it’s anywhere remotely within their reach, the moment it leaves the laundry room. And yet, my quilts hung in major shows, appeared in magazines, and one of them is even own by the Museum of American Folk Art! So pfffft on that judge.
Impressive!!
I have been working on house stuff too, including things that have mildly annoyed me since we moved in (eight years ago, if we’re keeping track). Yesterday’s project involved replacing the mismatched, chipped, rattly interior doorknobs with smoothly functional new knobs. A success! Then there was the follow-up project of not kicking myself for procrastinating so long on such a simple fix.
In other happy news: my home office finally has a clean floor! The new desk is holding a little bit of the clutter, but I’m sifting through it at a steady clip. While there’s plenty more work to do, i.e. the stacks of boxes in the office closet, I am already enjoying that the room is lighter, brighter, and more pleasant to be in.
I don’t really have to work to appreciate my dogs, who follow all of my home projects with interest. From carefully inspecting every item, to lying just behind me so that I am guaranteed to trip, to sneaking in smooches anytime my face is within reach (and, ideally, preoccupied with trying to do something else, such as figuring out the correct orientation for a doorknob), I could not ask for better helpers.
I’m not doing all that much. Had rehearsals this week and now they’re done. Finished a yarn project and am not sure what to start next. I can’t actually get anything I’m supposed to get done at work right now and that’s annoying as heck.
We have had some spectacular Fall weather, lately, and yesterday was a very productive day. I walked the full circuit without being short of breath, due to low humidity and temperature, I think. Then I carted everything off of the back patio, and swept it. I sprayed the siding with soapy stuff, and uncovered the white, again. I carted some pipe from an experiment to take the water from one sump pump out to the street, and put it next to the garage so I can take it to the street on Large Item collection day. Then I put everything back. It looks much better. The ceiling above the bird feeders was specked and dirty, and that got much cleaner with the spray, too. I may have mentioned this before: I love Fall!!!! 😆🍁
I’ve been working on cleaning out some of the archived email in my Gmail accounts because I really do not need all that ancient shit.
Sent two cover art requests to my self-publishing designer (sister) for whenever she wants a break from disaster response.
Got some new clothes, so sorted out a bagful for Goodwill.
Organized a stack of books to read and then offer to the LA LGBT Center residence (they must have a library, right? If not, this will be a start).
Put the two-volume “Complete Annotated Sherlock Holmes,” which I will never read again, in a bag with the “Tales of Mystery & Imagination” by Edgar Allen Poe. That’s twelve more pounds of books that someone who shops at the Friends of the Library store might enjoy.
And now it’s time to sign on for my last day of covering two desks at Day Job.
In work work things continue to be a nuts with lots of in person meetings and not enough desk time to get things done.
On a positive note I had a big working group meeting for my current project planned for next week but have been asked/told to go to a different meeting instead. This is actually fortunate as I hadn’t had a chance to get much done for the working group and I can now put it off for a few weeks. The other meeting will require work, but not as much, and isn’t my responsibility. So a slight reduction in stress for the moment but still tons to do.
I had a big housework plan for the weekend, and unsurprisingly did less than I intended, but I got the worst mess cleared and the kitchen looking more presentable. I also cut the grass even though it was quite wet. Rather than feeling I had to tackle it all at once I mentally divided it into four and made myself do a bit each evening and now have cut three of the four areas! Definitely too wet to do the last bit for a while.
Strangely my social life went a bit crazy too so I am really happy that apart from walking the dogs I am going nowhere this evening
Lots of Day Job. I would be concerned about how it’s too much (I should be more like 1/3 time) but DD got a graduation date for her PhD and so I will be heading to London Nov 4 or 5 and then to Vienna w my friend. And I will not work at all !
Right now I’m on a Moshi Tora call. That is a call to prep for a possible Trump administration : that name comes from the Japanese term for “what if Trump”.
I’m depressed. So far it’s been all “what will he do” not “what can we do”. This one is how he will be a threat to the civil service (and thus everyone they serve).
As my coping mechanism, I have been cutting down many wild grape vines . And election calls. And watching baseball.
Yes, me too. Like tonight. So much misinformation, vitriol and hypocrisy that it’s really depressing. I’ll go register some voters tomorrow which will make me happier again.
I am working on breathing and resisting panic. My lungs are making all sorts of strange noises every time I lie down which scares me and a short walk to apply for winter heating assistance tired me out so much that I couldn’t do anything else yesterday. On the plus side, the appointment went very quickly and easily and when I got my latest heating bill it said my monthly payment amount is going down almost ten dollars a month, which will help in the short term. Of course, the State has a huge budget deficit so there may not be much aid to distribute, but at least I got my paperwork in on time.
I also spent a lot of time wrestling with passwords last night so I could see the test results the neurologist ordered. There was a very large drop on one of the blood tests for something I don’t recognize and I reached out for some explanation of what that means. This morning I got an email from the doctor’s office saying that the doctor was out of the office today, but he would get back to me tomorrow and answer my questions. Such a prompt response was very reassuring because it proves that someone is monitoring my case even when the doctor is off. I was pleasantly surprised because my primary care doctor is not nearly that responsive.
I cancelled my PT appointment because I was feeling quite dizzy yesterday which made me sad because it usually improves my week, but at least this way I might have enough energy to go to the grocery store so that I can bake tomorrow. The lung doctor’s office called to tell me that they are ordering 5 days of prednisone for me to try to get my lungs back on track. I reluctantly agreed because the idea of taking oral steroids scares me to death, but if it results in better breathing and more energy, it will be worth the worry.
I have a neighbor with similar problems and the steroids make a world of difference for her. Withdrawal can be a problem, though.
Holding you in my thoughts, Aunt Snack.
Sending hugs Aunt Snack
Babysitting the grands this week as mom and dad are attending a black tie destination wedding in Florence, Italy. My daughter’s 40th birthday is today and, since I’m staying at their house, came home to my house today to find one of my two cats had passed away in the dining room. He had been sick, but it was still a shock. Other cat is catching a nap next to me before I have to leave him again to pick up the kids at school. Luckily, mom and dad return VERY late on Thursday night/VERY early Friday morning, so cat and I can bond again on Friday when I come home. It’s always something, isn’t it?
I’m so sorry. This is a terrible way to lose an old friend.
I am so sorry.
So sorry to hear!
I am so sorry for the loss of your cat. That must have been such a shock for you. Virtual hugs and sympathy.
That’s a bad way to arrive home. You have my sympathy. I’m sure you and “other cat” will need each other’s support. I’m sad for both of you.
My sympathies! 🙁
I’m sorry. A few years, my tenant came home to find her cat had died while she was at work, and it was so traumatic for her, especially since the cat hadn’t been noticeably ill. It’s never easy, but yeah, not something you can really prepare yourself for, even if they’re sick.
So sorry about your cat. I hope and your other cat get some cuddles in soon.
So sorry for your loss.
So sorry for your loss Elinor. Even if he had been ill it is still a shock and will take some time to get over. My cat was 19 when she died and had been ill, but for years I still expected her to arrive when I opened the front door, like she always did.
Sending hugs to you and strokes to the surviving cat.
This post resonated with me, because we lost our beloved cat Snowball, but it was decision-based – told the vet “okay” to her offer of euthanasia, since he was going gradually, from bone cancer in one cheek to difficulty eating solid food and the eye on the cancer side totally closed. He was a cat with a lot of Personality, and we feel the house’s emptiness every day.
Cherish that second cat of yours. It must have been traumatic on him as well.
I am so sorry for your loss and for the shock of it.
I am so sorry for your loss! May you and your other kitty be able to console each other.
I finished another task. Actually, I un-did a task and did another. I wanted a tall rack in the garden room, so I took two of the kitchen storage baker’s racks and one four-shelf storage rack and played mix-n-match with the parts. The storage rack got two of the half-shelves from the baker’s racks. The tall (back) part of the baker’s racks all combined with shelves to make the tall storage rack, and the short (front) parts made a short storage rack.
The undo task was accomplished in stages, because all the components were in use. Stage one was to clear a small baker’s rack that didn’t match any of the others, and on which some potatoes had… rotted. much cleaning required. Then the #2 Basement dehumidifier was moved from a storage rack to the baker’s rack. The contents of the storage rack were distributed as necessary.
Once empty, the storage rack needed the shelves repositioned to match the ones in the garden room. Then the hydroponics units on the tall, bastardized storage rack migrated to the replacement rack.
The next stage was to recover the half-shelves from the storage rack in the suite, and move all the groceries on that rack and the short rack to empty the short rack. That left me the parts to rebuild two baker’s racks, bringing the total up to nine. Six of them are 36x14x69″, one of them is 24x14x69″. The other two are being used as dehumidifier stands and are shorter and much cheaper.
There are pictures on my blog in the post, More Pictures I Want to Share. Catchy name, eh?
But wait! There’s more.
The double deep-sink in the basement no longer drains. The plumber suspected the narrow galvanized pipe had corroded and collapsed over the 70 or so years since the house was built, so no one suggests digging up the concrete floor to replace it. But I do dishes in those sinks – in plastic tubs that I pump out using a submersible pump. So if I say, “I did the dishes,” then realize that it’s a Big Deal. I would carry the dishes upstairs to the kitchen, but the family sink is always full of dirty dishes or pots and pans. Okay, not always, just when I look at it. Anyway, I did the dishes.
But wait! There’s more.
I cooked. I fired up the new crock pot with several pound of boneless chicken thighs, a couple pounds of frozen peppers & onions, a pint of vegetable stock, a few servings of dehydrated mixed veggies, and a can of V8. I used a pot liner so I wouldn’t have to wash the crock pot. That’s not to say I haven’t been cooking right along, but this will last several meals that just need microwaving to reheat.
But wait! There’s more.
Does anybody still Beat Rugs? Everyone owns vacuum cleaners now (including me), so who beats rugs? Me, apparently. I had taken the wet rugs from the basement flooding incident last week and hung them up to dry. Which they very slowly did. Then I thought about running the vacuum up and down them, but no way was I hefting the beater attachment, so… I walloped those suckers with a broom.
So much dirt! I can’t honestly say I was astonished. Perhaps if I had vacuumed a little more often, you know, like every month… I haven’t taken the rugs down yet. Beating them is very therapeutic, and I need some more therapeut.
But stop! There’s no more.
You get your therapy where you can, Gary. I have had moments and days when beating anything inanimate would have been very satisfying.
Picture the rug with a campaign poster of the Donald on it. I do. Still knocking more crap out. Of the rug, I mean.
I wish it would be that easy to get The Donald to stop spewing crap. I’m sure the Haitian immigrants would appreciate it.
I found it quite appropriate that he chose Springfield because almost every state has one of those.
When I said I kill grape vines as therapy…
When last I checked, the rugs seem to have dried. I checked my RH in La Basementa (bogus Spanish is the only Spanish I speak, borka borka borka!) and read 40%. That’s pretty low. The dehydrators have even cycled off.
I suspect it’s a function of my age but I feel cold. it’s 73.5 degrees Farfegnugen (23.5 degrees Canadian) at my desk. I have turned on my heater.
Time to resume beating the carpet.
More Cooking!
I split two English Muffins to make four mini-pizza crusts. I topped them each with a slice of tomato, a slice of Black Forrest ham, a sandwich-slice of pepperoni, and grated mozzarella cheese. Toaster oven on the Pizza setting.
mini-pizzas
I’ve mostly been shopping for a new-to-me car. Ugh. The old one is 18 years old, and I was hoping to keep it going until next year when the Chevy Bolt EV is re-introduced and really splurge on a brand new car, but I can’t wait that long (exhaust is rusting out and would cost more than the car’s worth to replace). So, I’ve been researching and moving money around, and all that jazz.
Planning to get a used Chevy Bolt EV! Bonus: the new model that I was waiting for only comes in an SUV size, and I prefer the smaller size of the older model, so now I’ll have the size I prefer, and sooner than planned (and I really loathe my current vehicle). The newer Bolt version will have a fancier battery setup and longer range, but really, 99% of my driving is within 30 miles of home, and probably 50%-plus of my driving is within 5-10 miles, so I can easily live with a 135-mile-per-full-charge range. The longest trip I ever make is almost exactly 100 miles, which means I shouldn’t need to stop in the middle to re-charge. And I only make that trip once every two years, so having a longer range shouldn’t be the deciding factor in what I get.
Good luck finding what you want.
Monday was surprisingly dry, so I managed to mulch & cover all the allotment beds I’d cleared. Just waiting for the sweet peas, beans & sugar snaps to stop producing (they’ve already slowed drastically) so I can clear the remaining beds. Still need to weed the chipped-bark paths, but the beds are the main thing – and digging out the old compost heap so I can close off the current one & start a new heap.
I’ve also told everyone I’m leaving the Don’t Lose Your Way project, and am busy preparing to hand over my separate co-ordinator & research roles. No takers yet, but I’m going as soon as I’ve gathered the information together. Meanwhile, we have a new volunteer in Nova Scotia! She loves walking in Britain, apparently, and fancies getting to know an area she can then visit.
Feeling relieved about letting go of DLYW. And I’ve just begun a proof-reading job – Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals: lots of fun so far.
Yes — My Family and Other Animals is so much fun. I read it many, many years ago.
So, does ‘fixing the sweeper’ mean anything more than holding the handle and swinging it back and forth? If not, I may claim my broom is not working and I have to wait for it to be ‘fixed’. I’ve been looking at too many boxes that need to gone through, trashed or donated…keep as little as possible. Surprisingly they are amazingly patient waiting to be cleaned. What ever happened to little helpers like the ones found in nursery rhymes? heavy sigh!!!
Ok so this is not what I did this week. Instead I have a question. What is a truck draft?
That’s what I call (personal term) the semi-final draft that is not quite where I want it to be but that can be published if I get hit by a truck.
Oh thank you! I was curious what that meant for the next book. Just anxious to get to read Nice Funerals. My husband and I just finished reading Rocky Start together.
My big win this week was losing it at a county council meeting (on zoom). One of the MAGA people suggested that he was surprised I had attended a protest a few weeks ago since he thought I would go away after my election board turn. Implying that there was something wrong with my participating as a private citizen. I did a high volume declaration that I would attend any protest I wanted to, any press conference I wanted to and I would not be silenced (said that a couple of times).
It was kind of funny because I’m apparently known for a calm, rational demeanor. A couple of people congratulated me on pushing back and standing up for myself.
So on to a couple of more meetings and some voter registration. And impatiently awaiting my mail-in ballot.
I read this post and comments and it gave me hope.
Good morning,
I am a huge fan of yours and needed to share with you that I read your book Maybe this time, every fall season and I check every year on any progress with the publishing of Haunting Alice.
Hope to someday read it. Thank you!
Thank you, Kaili. I still intend to finish Alice, but first Rose and the Rocky Start series. Welcome to Argh!
I found a cute, Boho-look way to use scrap yarn as Christmas ornaments!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA9AJ23Sreg/?igsh=MW1qdnRxcHFzdmxiaA==
Those are really cute!
Thanks! Changing colour every row is a pain but worth it.
I’ve been busy and it seems like ages since I was able to get on here for more than a quick comment.
The insanity at the store has settled down. The manager broke up with her vacation boyfriend and regained her sanity (thank all that anyone considers holy because it was a nightmare). She’s working in the pharmacy and the store and the other person was/will be promoted to assistant manager. There were a few issues and we had a small staff meeting the other week but, honestly, I don’t think anyone is going to change their ways. That includes me but my habits don’t include sitting in the manager’s office all day.
The new assistant manager was supposed to teach me how to do the opening paperwork but she gave me a 5 minute speed tutorial and then got frustrated with me when I made mistakes. She’s occasionally a little bit convinced of her own superiority and inability to make mistakes so it made me a little bit happy when the manager was helping me with the paperwork one day after I had made a particularly ugly error and discovered that the assistant, J, had made a few mistakes of her own. I was not above being petty about that in my own head.
Back in September we decided to sell one of our company vehicles, and we contacted a local dealership to see if they wanted to buy it since used pickups are a hot commodity right now. They hemmed and hawed and talked to a wholesaler who agreed to buy it. The wholesaler wanted to buy it on a Monday but wasn’t going to have a cheque for us on said Monday. Yeah, no.
Paul called a dealership in Edmonton on Wednesday and about 4 hours later I had a cheque in my hands. I had to cancel all my plans and run the truck to Edmonton and then Paul came down after work to pick me up, fortunately, his cross shift was able to come in early so he was able to leave at 5 and not 7 but still it was a long day. The drive down was pretty tense, especially when a garbage truck realized he changed lanes too soon and then almost didn’t see me and nearly sideswiped the truck when he tried to come back into the middle lane.
Paul got a new tattoo on Saturday, I went to the reptile expo, and the dogs checked out their new boarding kennel for the second time. David and I did a test run with the stencil for my tattoo and I think it’s going to be good.
We’ve been on the go with Paul having courses and various trips to Edmonton and it seems like we haven’t stopped running (or, more accurately, driving) in weeks. I have to work at the store tomorrow and Saturday and I’m kind of looking forward to that.
My mom had her first cataract surgery almost a week ago and goes for her second on Oct 24 so we are all excited for that.
I found a cabinet bed (like a Murphy bed but it folds into 3 parts and hides in a cabinet) for my craft/sewing room. I had been looking at them at a national furniture chain and they were about $2100 but I found one on Wayfair for $1050 and then got a folding mattress on Amazon for less than $200 so yay! I had enough put aside for that so I’m pretty happy about that particular find.
I scrubbed and scraped and washed and primed then painted the laundry room floor. The old paint was chipped and broken and missing in a lot of places and even though the floor really isn’t smooth or completely free of critter hair, the new paint looks a lot better than the old. In two weeks when the paint has cured we will move the washer and dryer over and I’ll paint where they go, unlike the last people who painted who left bare concrete underneath them. Honestly, I don’t know what they were thinking.
It’s been a busy few weeks.