Showing posts with label domestrivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domestrivia. Show all posts
Friday, December 12, 2008
Blogging potpourri...
Just a collection of mixed nuts - nothing substantive today.
Saw gas for $1.54/gal yesterday. I haven't seen those prices in years...certainly lower than when I was ranting about price-gouging during a hurricane evacuation 4 years ago. And yet, 4 months ago it was pushing $4/gal. Crazy fluctuations...
Speaking of gas, my Honda Civic hybrid, Silmarien, is getting around 41mpg, on almost exclusively around-town driving. I love my car.
My Christmas shopping is done! Online shopping makes my life so much easier.
Choir practice for upcoming Christmas music is showing me how much of a difference my voice lessons are making. I definitely think I'm a more confident (and competent!) singer than I was at this point last year.
Despite having gotten myself quite immersed in World of Warcraft (and am enjoying the latest expansion), I am still stitching. I'm hoping to finish Just Nan's "Amethyst Snowflake" before we travel for the holidays, so I can take JN "Christmas Star" with.
Speaking of Christmas stitching, I am working on a Christmas ornament for Tor Rhuann. I have a dozen half-formed ideas floating in my head, but none have quite fully materialized yet. I do hope to have something by this weekend, though.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Bugs...
I hate being sick. DD and I both got some sort of bug that's pretty much laid me flat for the past few days. I'm on the mend, which is good because there's always too much to do to be sick, and I hate feeling dizzy and achy and lethargic. DD seems to be feeling better as well, so life should be back to normal by Monday.
In other bugs, we're still dealing with those infernal grain moths. We thought we had them beat a few months ago, but they reappeared. Apparently the larvae seem to like popcorn ceilings as a good place to hide and pupate. (Yet another reason to hate popcorn ceilings...) The area of infestation this time was DD's room (because of the bird cage and DD's somewhat less than stellar roomkeeping). We've moved the birds to our Florida room, and have given DD's room a good cleaning and bugspraying, so I hope we'll finally be rid of the blasted things. At least they didn't get into the pantry this time.
In other bugs, we're still dealing with those infernal grain moths. We thought we had them beat a few months ago, but they reappeared. Apparently the larvae seem to like popcorn ceilings as a good place to hide and pupate. (Yet another reason to hate popcorn ceilings...) The area of infestation this time was DD's room (because of the bird cage and DD's somewhat less than stellar roomkeeping). We've moved the birds to our Florida room, and have given DD's room a good cleaning and bugspraying, so I hope we'll finally be rid of the blasted things. At least they didn't get into the pantry this time.
Friday, December 08, 2006
The Madness Season
This reads like one of those "you know you're getting old when..." emails that tends to make the rounds, but this real-life example (my morning so far) illustrates why I'm surprised I still have some semblance of sanity.
Plan for the morning/early afternoon:
get DD to school
vacuum DD's room
weed through DD's books and toys while she's at school
get carpet cleaners in
finish Christmas cards
Actual, as of 10:30 am
get DD to school
get large FedEx food service order (which I'd forgotten was arriving today)
start unpacking food order into freezer
realize I should vacuum first in preparation for cleaners, so start vacuuming
try to fish sock out of vacuum hose
get call from school to pick DD up because she's not feeling well. Half an hour before carpet cleaners show up. School is 20 minutes away.
call carpet cleaners to slip arrival time by half an hour
go get DD
continue attempting to retrieve sock from vacuum hose
DD wants food. Doesn't want the leftovers I try to give her. Ultimately just nuke a can of chicken broth
FINALLY retrieve sock from vacuum hose and finish vacuuming
carpet cleaners show up, get them started.
Back now, hopefully, to my regularly scheduled morning.
Plan for the morning/early afternoon:
Actual, as of 10:30 am
Back now, hopefully, to my regularly scheduled morning.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Friday follies
This will be mostly drive-by blogging. Little notes, but nothing terribly in-depth.
In August, when I start whining about how much rain we're getting, remind me that in May I was whining about the lack of rain. Florida is known for Tourist Season and Hurricane Season, but one usually doesn't hear much about Brush Fire Season. We're having a bad one this year - the local park has had two large fires in two months, and about 30 miles north there's one that's been burning off and on for over a week. Just when they think it's under control, the winds pick up and it flares up again. There's been so much smoke that they've closed the Interstate multiple times up there. And there's the constant acrid smell of pine smoke. Just nasty.
We have a new central air system now! So far so good! We'll need to fine-tune the programmable settings, though - this new system has humidity control, so it seems cooler than the same temperature on the old system.
We also had to replace the water heater. When things start to go south on a house, everything seems to go at once.
I have a framing gift certificate that expires on Sunday (a Mother's Day gift from my stepkids last year). I took the wedding present to the other framer (since she does more specialty stuff), but I'll take the smalls to the place with the gift cert. I'm also hoping to get at least the border on Butterfly Waltz done tonight or early tomorrow so I can get frames and mats for it and the smalls, and try to do some framing work myself.
So I'm sure dream interpreters would have a field day with this:
The other night I had a dream about a movie...where Ioan Gruffudd was portraying Geddy Lee from Rush.
I don't think even *I* want to know how my mind came up with that one.
One of DD's favorite songs right now is Cheap Trick's "Surrender". Maybe because of the "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird..."
I mean, how else can one describe that dream?
In August, when I start whining about how much rain we're getting, remind me that in May I was whining about the lack of rain. Florida is known for Tourist Season and Hurricane Season, but one usually doesn't hear much about Brush Fire Season. We're having a bad one this year - the local park has had two large fires in two months, and about 30 miles north there's one that's been burning off and on for over a week. Just when they think it's under control, the winds pick up and it flares up again. There's been so much smoke that they've closed the Interstate multiple times up there. And there's the constant acrid smell of pine smoke. Just nasty.
We have a new central air system now! So far so good! We'll need to fine-tune the programmable settings, though - this new system has humidity control, so it seems cooler than the same temperature on the old system.
We also had to replace the water heater. When things start to go south on a house, everything seems to go at once.
I have a framing gift certificate that expires on Sunday (a Mother's Day gift from my stepkids last year). I took the wedding present to the other framer (since she does more specialty stuff), but I'll take the smalls to the place with the gift cert. I'm also hoping to get at least the border on Butterfly Waltz done tonight or early tomorrow so I can get frames and mats for it and the smalls, and try to do some framing work myself.
So I'm sure dream interpreters would have a field day with this:
The other night I had a dream about a movie...where Ioan Gruffudd was portraying Geddy Lee from Rush.
I don't think even *I* want to know how my mind came up with that one.One of DD's favorite songs right now is Cheap Trick's "Surrender". Maybe because of the "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird..."
I mean, how else can one describe that dream?
Monday, April 24, 2006
Built-in obsolescence?
My house is approaching its 12th birthday. Which puts it squarely in the 10-12 year range at which everything starts falling apart.
Last year we replaced the fridge and dishwasher. (And the fence, but that was hurricane-related).
Our A/C compressor has gone out the past three summers, but after a capacitor replacement last August, we figured it could limp along a little longer. Until the air handler had problems last week. We decided we should just go ahead and replace the whole central air system. (How did I ever live before central air??) We got a few estimates in, and decided on one.
Then this weekend, our hot water heater started leaking, and will probably need to be replaced. We also noticed our water softener system is *also* leaking.
When it rains, it pours. (And this is Florida, so that's true in so many ways...)
So we'll fix what needs fixing, and hope to be gone by the next replacement cycle!
Last year we replaced the fridge and dishwasher. (And the fence, but that was hurricane-related).
Our A/C compressor has gone out the past three summers, but after a capacitor replacement last August, we figured it could limp along a little longer. Until the air handler had problems last week. We decided we should just go ahead and replace the whole central air system. (How did I ever live before central air??) We got a few estimates in, and decided on one.
Then this weekend, our hot water heater started leaking, and will probably need to be replaced. We also noticed our water softener system is *also* leaking.
When it rains, it pours. (And this is Florida, so that's true in so many ways...)
So we'll fix what needs fixing, and hope to be gone by the next replacement cycle!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Odds and ends
Random ups, downs, ins, and outs the past week here.
The biggest news is that DD had her tonsils and adenoids out this morning. She was a very brave girl about it - she wasn't very nervous at all, and even less so after going on a tour of the outpatient surgery center. Her tonsils (and apparently her adenoids as well) were rather enlarged...when an ENT says "Oh my gosh those are huge" to your tonsils - you know they're big! She's recovering pretty well, although she's still rather groggy and a tad cranky. But that's to be expected. I've laid in an ample supply of popsicles and other soft and cold goodies for her.
I also started Pawprintings "Butterfly Waltz" for her while DH and I were in the waiting room. I had some purple Soie d'Alger of similar color to the DMC, so I've converted it to all silks. It's going pretty quickly - perhaps another thing to be framed with that gift certificate that expires next month. If I can get it done in time.
In the meantime, my stitching timetable has been compressed - I'm working on a wedding present for our friend M (DH's oldest bud and DD's godfather) and his future wife J....and the wedding has been moved up from September to June! Which means I need to get the gift stitched by the end of this month and off to my new framer so it can be framed in time. I think I only have about 10 hours left, so it shouldn't be too big a problem to finish.
Otherwise, life is mostly random spots:
I've seen fire and I've seen (not much) rain: For the second time in as many weeks, a large brush fire has consumed part of the local park - about 200 acres each time. We did have about half an inch of rain on Sunday morning, but in the past 6 weeks or so we've had less than an inch total. Very dry - I hope this isn't a repeat of 1998, where we had so many brush fires there was threat of a firestorm up north at one point... WE NEED RAIN!!
Automotive alchemy: I sold my poor trusty Saturn wagon today. DsD and DH had gone in on a car with the assumption she'd take over payments with her military pay. Which never happened because DsD ended up not shipping, so she gave the car back to us, and with one car too many, it made more sense to sell the car that was already paid for. So I'm now the proud (?) owner of a gold '03 Saturn ION. So in a sense I've seen automotive alchemy - turning my wagon into gold! Like any new car, though, it'll take me a while to get used to it.
Lost in the Old Forest: I haven't been walking as quickly to Rivendell as I should - been a wee bit of a slug the past two weeks. If I meet my goal this week, though, I'll be spending the weekend with Tom Bombadil!
So that's my week in a nutcaseshell. We just got the Narnia 2disc set, and I'm off to watch it. Prayers and good thoughts for DD's speedy recovery would be greatly appreciated!
The biggest news is that DD had her tonsils and adenoids out this morning. She was a very brave girl about it - she wasn't very nervous at all, and even less so after going on a tour of the outpatient surgery center. Her tonsils (and apparently her adenoids as well) were rather enlarged...when an ENT says "Oh my gosh those are huge" to your tonsils - you know they're big! She's recovering pretty well, although she's still rather groggy and a tad cranky. But that's to be expected. I've laid in an ample supply of popsicles and other soft and cold goodies for her.
I also started Pawprintings "Butterfly Waltz" for her while DH and I were in the waiting room. I had some purple Soie d'Alger of similar color to the DMC, so I've converted it to all silks. It's going pretty quickly - perhaps another thing to be framed with that gift certificate that expires next month. If I can get it done in time.
In the meantime, my stitching timetable has been compressed - I'm working on a wedding present for our friend M (DH's oldest bud and DD's godfather) and his future wife J....and the wedding has been moved up from September to June! Which means I need to get the gift stitched by the end of this month and off to my new framer so it can be framed in time. I think I only have about 10 hours left, so it shouldn't be too big a problem to finish.
Otherwise, life is mostly random spots:
So that's my week in a nut
Monday, January 16, 2006
Playing with dolls again...
The family dynamics have been changing a bit here at Alternate Dementia. DsS has been back with us since early December, and DsD is heading off to Basic this week (hooah!). And DD has just been growing.
So it was time for an overhaul of the family picture to the upper right. I've spent entirely too much time on it this evening, but I'm pretty happy with it. Especially considering dollmakers are woefully lacking both in males and in military uniforms.
Let me know what you think.
So it was time for an overhaul of the family picture to the upper right. I've spent entirely too much time on it this evening, but I'm pretty happy with it. Especially considering dollmakers are woefully lacking both in males and in military uniforms.
Let me know what you think.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Domestic archaeology...
I'm off work this week, and have been trying to get a little further on The Great Decluttering. Monday I did a couple of bookcases, yesterday was the walk-in closet and a little more reshelving of books, and today I tackled the desk. There's still a lot more to be done (I'm only at 82% on Decluttering) but I am at least making progress.
I have also discovered that Post-It Notes breed. I found 12 wrapped pads, and I didn't even bother counting how many small freebie or partial pads I found.
Index cards must be the larval form - I found innumerable random index cards while cleaning up.
In general, I've been amazed at some of the strange things I've found - a printout of Jabberwocky in Latin, playing cards I got in Prague, pictures of my stepchildren as toddlers and preschoolers. Little random snippets of life from the past 15 years.
There's still so much to do, but I think most of the 'archaeology' is done. What remains is primarily weeding through books and computer games - we have more items that need to be shelved than there is shelf space.
I have also discovered that Post-It Notes breed. I found 12 wrapped pads, and I didn't even bother counting how many small freebie or partial pads I found.
Index cards must be the larval form - I found innumerable random index cards while cleaning up.
In general, I've been amazed at some of the strange things I've found - a printout of Jabberwocky in Latin, playing cards I got in Prague, pictures of my stepchildren as toddlers and preschoolers. Little random snippets of life from the past 15 years.
There's still so much to do, but I think most of the 'archaeology' is done. What remains is primarily weeding through books and computer games - we have more items that need to be shelved than there is shelf space.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Drive-by blogging
Well. It's been almost a week since last I blogged. Life has been busy, but mostly in non-eventful ways. I'm a bit brainfried at the moment, so I'll just do a quick update.
It's pomegranate season! I love pomegranates (indeed, the whole family does), and I get them whenever I can. A little pricey, but well worth it. Actually, I've heard that pomegranates actually grow pretty well down here, so I'm toying with the idea of perhaps getting a couple of pomegranate trees. I also found a site with recipes, including a pomegranate-marinated rack of lamb that I'm going to have to try sometime!
It's been pouring rain here the past few days, and in the past 48 hours my pool has (once again!) gone from low to overflowing - I came home today to find water standing 3" deep on my deck and my back porch flooded. Again. Maybe before I get those pomegranate trees, I should build an ark!
While helping out with an event at DD's school, I learned some variant lyrics to the infamous "Chicken Dance", courtesy of kids who likely have older siblings!
I don't wanna be a chicken
I don't wanna be a duck
So I'll shake my butt
(...child wiggles rear-end...)
Tomorrow or Saturday, I'm going to take Last Supper off to get it cleaned and stretched, and probably the next weekend I'll be going with a stitching friend of mine up to her framer who does rather impressive work (special mat cuts and so on). I have a good framer down here, but as this piece is for DH, it warrants something super-special.
There was a new episode of Mythbusters last night - revisiting older segments, and retesting with viewer suggestions. I learned how tracer bullets work, and that being incendiary, they *can* make a car's fuel tank ignite. And that reminds me of a military maxim: Tracers work both directions.. Anyway, it was a very cool episode, and I'm glad to see new Mythbusters episodes.
Well, I've finished the web work I needed to do tonight, and it's been a long week. I'm off to watch the Clemson-N.C.State game (it's 14-0 Clemson early in the 2nd as I type this).
I don't wanna be a chicken
I don't wanna be a duck
So I'll shake my butt
(...child wiggles rear-end...)
Well, I've finished the web work I needed to do tonight, and it's been a long week. I'm off to watch the Clemson-N.C.State game (it's 14-0 Clemson early in the 2nd as I type this).
Monday, September 19, 2005
A weekend for the birds...
The weekend here at Alternate Dementia started with a new addition - DD now has a budgie, and is ecstatic to be no longer among the ranks of the petless. The budgie, a pretty pale blue specimen named Angel, is still adapting to being away from all her(?) budgie friends and among these strange huge wingless creatures that make weird noises. A bird is a good compromise pet - more interactive than fish, without quite as much potential for mess and destruction as a furry pet. We've been talking to Angel, but other than the occasional chirp, she hasn't been particularly loquacious yet.
Otherwise, it was a relaxing weekend. I got a bit further on Last Supper, and watched a fair bit of football.
Pressure cookers are wonderful things - they allow even a mediocre cook like myself to make a good pot roast. Pot roast isn't really difficult at all in a pressure cooker - brown the meat, add your veggies and some water and put the lid on the cooker. When it seals up and starts steaming a lot, put the dancing thingy on top and let it dance for 45 minutes. Remove from heat, let it depressurize, and there you go.
Just don't put onion skins down the garbage disposal. I spent probably half an hour with my hand down in the disposal picking the skins out of the holes at the bottom to declog my sink!
Otherwise, it was a relaxing weekend. I got a bit further on Last Supper, and watched a fair bit of football.
Pressure cookers are wonderful things - they allow even a mediocre cook like myself to make a good pot roast. Pot roast isn't really difficult at all in a pressure cooker - brown the meat, add your veggies and some water and put the lid on the cooker. When it seals up and starts steaming a lot, put the dancing thingy on top and let it dance for 45 minutes. Remove from heat, let it depressurize, and there you go.
Just don't put onion skins down the garbage disposal. I spent probably half an hour with my hand down in the disposal picking the skins out of the holes at the bottom to declog my sink!
Monday, September 12, 2005
Dog-gone weekend
It was a weekend for happy endings.
Our temporary dog George has found a new home, with a family with several children. They came over with George's owner to have a look, and when George was just standing there obviously loving life while being dogpiled by several shortlings, everyone knew this was it. He's with a family who will shower him with attention, the kids get a very loving (if somewhat stupid) pet, and we're back to normal after the educational experience of determining a dog is not in our cards right now.
DD hasn't been taking it very well, though. Her betta, Violet, died on Friday (he was pretty old as far as bettas go), and then George going away has left her pet-less. We may explore other pet options in the future.
Other than the mass pet exodus at Alternate Dementia, life has been going well. Georgia Tech is now 2-0 and is ranked #16, although he and I both have serious beef with the coaching: when you're up by 13 with 5 minutes left in the game, and you have arguably the best running back in the ACC, you do *not* call pass plays, especially on 3 consecutive possessions!
Note to Gailey: you should call running plays to run down the clock.
Minor football drama aside, I got plenty more stitching done on Last Supper over the weekend. At least Matthew is no longer talking to the wall, and I'm getting excited about the end being in sight.
And this weekend was a great one for mail. Between three people, I got a tin of Vanilla Earl Grey tea, two bags of Thorntons ginger chocolates, three Sudoku books, several cross-stitch patterns and a variety of other goodies. One would think it was my birthday or something!
And today I made some good headway on parish web updates I needed to do, and balanced the checkbook. Time to take a break and go stitch!
Our temporary dog George has found a new home, with a family with several children. They came over with George's owner to have a look, and when George was just standing there obviously loving life while being dogpiled by several shortlings, everyone knew this was it. He's with a family who will shower him with attention, the kids get a very loving (if somewhat stupid) pet, and we're back to normal after the educational experience of determining a dog is not in our cards right now.
DD hasn't been taking it very well, though. Her betta, Violet, died on Friday (he was pretty old as far as bettas go), and then George going away has left her pet-less. We may explore other pet options in the future.
Other than the mass pet exodus at Alternate Dementia, life has been going well. Georgia Tech is now 2-0 and is ranked #16, although he and I both have serious beef with the coaching: when you're up by 13 with 5 minutes left in the game, and you have arguably the best running back in the ACC, you do *not* call pass plays, especially on 3 consecutive possessions!
Note to Gailey: you should call running plays to run down the clock. Minor football drama aside, I got plenty more stitching done on Last Supper over the weekend. At least Matthew is no longer talking to the wall, and I'm getting excited about the end being in sight.
And this weekend was a great one for mail. Between three people, I got a tin of Vanilla Earl Grey tea, two bags of Thorntons ginger chocolates, three Sudoku books, several cross-stitch patterns and a variety of other goodies. One would think it was my birthday or something!
And today I made some good headway on parish web updates I needed to do, and balanced the checkbook. Time to take a break and go stitch!
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Raising the roof!
Thursday I came home to find DsD and dBF repairing the roof, so now we are officially storm-ready again. Hopefully the tropics will remain quiet, though! We had enough hurricane experience last year to last a lifetime.
I finished Sharon Kay Penman's Time and Chance a couple hours ago. It tells the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry's well-known feud with Thomas Becket. After reading it, I have two thoughts: 1) that I can't wait for her next book in this series, and 2) I need to watch The Lion in Winter and Becket again. I also want to visit Canterbury and spend a bit more time there next time I'm in the area. Last time we were there, there was a service going on, and when we came back, there was only about 5 minutes until closing, so family friend M and I made the whirlwind tour of the main area. I saw that they keep a lit candle on the spot Becket was murdered, but little else. DH unfortunately didn't see any of it, since he stayed back with then 7-month-old DD.
We're flying up to Virginia tomorrow, so entries may be a bit sporadic (or more probably, nonexistent) next week. Hopefully it will be cooler up there than it was this past week!
I finished Sharon Kay Penman's Time and Chance a couple hours ago. It tells the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry's well-known feud with Thomas Becket. After reading it, I have two thoughts: 1) that I can't wait for her next book in this series, and 2) I need to watch The Lion in Winter and Becket again. I also want to visit Canterbury and spend a bit more time there next time I'm in the area. Last time we were there, there was a service going on, and when we came back, there was only about 5 minutes until closing, so family friend M and I made the whirlwind tour of the main area. I saw that they keep a lit candle on the spot Becket was murdered, but little else. DH unfortunately didn't see any of it, since he stayed back with then 7-month-old DD.
We're flying up to Virginia tomorrow, so entries may be a bit sporadic (or more probably, nonexistent) next week. Hopefully it will be cooler up there than it was this past week!
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
The best defense....
Either someone's been playing Minesweeper in my yard, or we'll finally be getting the new fence installed soon.
I went outside over the weekend to find a bunch of little yellow flags stuck in the ground around my yard, marking the gas line into the house. Monday they were joined by red and orange flags marking the electric and cable. This is a good sign - I don't think they do line locations until right before the job.
Line location is a Good Thing. We had some landscaping done a few years ago, and they accidentally cut our cable feed. Which at least was better than cutting the power line.
Anyway, almost a year after Frances, the new fence is coming!
I went outside over the weekend to find a bunch of little yellow flags stuck in the ground around my yard, marking the gas line into the house. Monday they were joined by red and orange flags marking the electric and cable. This is a good sign - I don't think they do line locations until right before the job.
Line location is a Good Thing. We had some landscaping done a few years ago, and they accidentally cut our cable feed. Which at least was better than cutting the power line.
Anyway, almost a year after Frances, the new fence is coming!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Reaper Mom
This evening I cleaned up DD's room. Before I got home from work, DsD and dBF took DD out to the mall so I could clean without interruption, and I think it was a successful venture on both sides. I'm proud of how clean I was able to make it within a very small time frame.
I managed to cull a copypaper box full of toys, mostly of the fast-food/convenience-store type. I also put 15 stuffed animals in a box for storage, and another 25 in a large bag for donation. I've got the animals and toys that will be donated hidden away in a back closet until I have a chance to donate them - hopefully she won't notice their absence until long after they're gone.
I do feel like an evil mommy, though, the Bane Of All Things Fun, for getting rid of so many of DD's toys and stuffies. I felt pangs of regret, and occasional nostalgia when an animal to be given away was one from my own childhood. But on the other hand, DD really does have quite a lot of toys, certainly far more than she needs. Especially when there isn't really room to put everything away. Besides, the toys will go to my local thrift store to serve a higher calling.
So I acknowledged the guilt I felt, and kept going. DD got home and saw her room clean, and asked me if I'd gotten rid of anything. Uh-oh. Evasive maneuver: I asked her if it looked like I got rid of anything, to which she answered "No", and I told her that I got rid of some papers laying on the floor (which I did, but that was by no means the entirety). She was okay with that and thanked me for cleaning her room.
I just hope she doesn't notice what's missing....
I managed to cull a copypaper box full of toys, mostly of the fast-food/convenience-store type. I also put 15 stuffed animals in a box for storage, and another 25 in a large bag for donation. I've got the animals and toys that will be donated hidden away in a back closet until I have a chance to donate them - hopefully she won't notice their absence until long after they're gone.
I do feel like an evil mommy, though, the Bane Of All Things Fun, for getting rid of so many of DD's toys and stuffies. I felt pangs of regret, and occasional nostalgia when an animal to be given away was one from my own childhood. But on the other hand, DD really does have quite a lot of toys, certainly far more than she needs. Especially when there isn't really room to put everything away. Besides, the toys will go to my local thrift store to serve a higher calling.
So I acknowledged the guilt I felt, and kept going. DD got home and saw her room clean, and asked me if I'd gotten rid of anything. Uh-oh. Evasive maneuver: I asked her if it looked like I got rid of anything, to which she answered "No", and I told her that I got rid of some papers laying on the floor (which I did, but that was by no means the entirety). She was okay with that and thanked me for cleaning her room.
I just hope she doesn't notice what's missing....
Monday, May 30, 2005
Time for a breather...
The past week or so has been a bit of a whirlwind - between graduations for DsD (high school) and DD (kindergarten), a birthday, and visitors in town, it's been somewhat hectic to say the least. Although for the most part it has been fun.
I am on the last day of a four-day weekend, in which I was able to get some much-needed relaxation (read: sleeping in!) DsS came over Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday we played Space Monopoly with gaming buddy J. I actually won, wonder of wonders...I don't believe I've ever won at Monopoly. Perhaps because I never played it much, since it's not exactly one of my favorite games. DD did a respectable showing, and enjoyed being the bank once she was out of the game. Putting those newfound counting skills to good use!
Sunday was pretty quiet, and I spent most of the day stitching and helping DH with his theology homework (if one could count serving as a sounding-board as help!). Today I once again tackled the disaster area that is DD's room, though there's some still left to do. Today's lesson: Never try to weed out a child's toys while said child is in the vicinity and likely to stumble upon the discard pile.
I did get about 10 hours in on Last Supper, though, so I have a progress pic to show off!
(Click for larger picture)
This is at 160 hours. My current projection is 275 hours to complete, which at my current rate of stitching will likely take me until the end of the year! But maybe now that all the school events and such are out of the way, I can make a bit better progress.
Though I also need to continue progress on The Great Decluttering...
I am on the last day of a four-day weekend, in which I was able to get some much-needed relaxation (read: sleeping in!) DsS came over Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday we played Space Monopoly with gaming buddy J. I actually won, wonder of wonders...I don't believe I've ever won at Monopoly. Perhaps because I never played it much, since it's not exactly one of my favorite games. DD did a respectable showing, and enjoyed being the bank once she was out of the game. Putting those newfound counting skills to good use!
Sunday was pretty quiet, and I spent most of the day stitching and helping DH with his theology homework (if one could count serving as a sounding-board as help!). Today I once again tackled the disaster area that is DD's room, though there's some still left to do. Today's lesson: Never try to weed out a child's toys while said child is in the vicinity and likely to stumble upon the discard pile.
I did get about 10 hours in on Last Supper, though, so I have a progress pic to show off!
(Click for larger picture)
This is at 160 hours. My current projection is 275 hours to complete, which at my current rate of stitching will likely take me until the end of the year! But maybe now that all the school events and such are out of the way, I can make a bit better progress.
Though I also need to continue progress on The Great Decluttering...
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Where's a house-elf when you need one??
It's been rather a whirlwind week! DsD is graduating high school this weekend, and there will be a small influx of friends and relatives. Which, of course, necessitates that my house be somewhat presentable. That, and that my cablemodem has been rather non-cooperative the past few days, so I feel a bit of catch-up is necessary.
Thursday I had carpet cleaners come in - that took a while. The house does look rather cleaner for it, though. Friday we had a mattress delivered for our guest room, and we also had an estimate on replacing the fence that got taken out by Frances. Ouch - the fence will cost nearly as much as our hurricane shutters! But other than that, and patching a few shingles, and we'll be back to pre-hurricane conditions!
Saturday was DD's birthday party at a local pizzeria/arcade - she had a joint party with her bestest friend, and from the comments I got from other parents, it was a rousing success! We opted not to open presents at the party, since there would be a few guests there for one child but not the other, and at this age the guests only care about their own presents being opened. So we brought home a huge 30-gallon garbage bag full of wrapped presents, and I was wondering how I'd ever be able to find places for DD to put them all away! As it turned out, once the packaging was removed, the bulk of the presents fit into a small (3 gal) storage bin. (I'm not sure whether to be pleased or appalled by the fact that most of the volume was taken up with disposable packaging). Being a small girl, there were the usual run of princess, purse/jewelry, and makeup presents. DD got a couple of Barbie items. I really don't care for Barbie things myself, but I find I certainly prefer them to Bratz. At least Barbies just have a bunch of different outfits and the occasional professional accessories. The only profession Bratz seem suited for is the world's oldest one! But anyway, DD is happy, the toys are pretty well stowed away, and a good time was had by all.
DsS came over Saturday for DD's party, and stayed over to Sunday. We played a full game of 4-player Britannia with gaming buddy J, and the day was capped by an episode of Conquerors on William of Normandy on the History Channel. How appropriate, given that we'd spent the day replaying the history of Britain.
Monday was most excellent from a stitching perspective. A new Secret Stitcher round has started, and I got several packages in the mail. From my new Secret Stitcher, I got some nice overdyed floss, some nummy British chocolate, and Passione Ricamo's "Once Upon A Time" and associated specialty fibers and beads! What an amazing opening gift. And from some unknown benefactor (who was not my SS - I asked), I got the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 2003 issue, some Piecemaker needles, and a nice opalescent hand-dyed fabric. Very lovely.
So that's been my week in review. Things will probably still be rather hectic the rest of the week in preparation for graduation.
On a side note, there have been a few changes in interstate wine shipments, which will be helpful to a budding wine snob like me! Wine is an integral part of many cultures, and it would be a shame to miss out on this aspect. One nice domestic vineyard DH discovered on a trip to San Diego is Orfila Vineyards. They have an excellent port, among other offerings. I've just tried a Gewürtztraminer from them. Fruity with a slight effervescence, and in my opinion would make a superior replacement to champagne for holiday sipping. I haven't tried a wine from Orfila I didn't like, so I certainly recommend them!
Anyway, such is the abridged version of my life this past week. If you know of any unemployed house-elves, send them my way!
Thursday I had carpet cleaners come in - that took a while. The house does look rather cleaner for it, though. Friday we had a mattress delivered for our guest room, and we also had an estimate on replacing the fence that got taken out by Frances. Ouch - the fence will cost nearly as much as our hurricane shutters! But other than that, and patching a few shingles, and we'll be back to pre-hurricane conditions!
Saturday was DD's birthday party at a local pizzeria/arcade - she had a joint party with her bestest friend, and from the comments I got from other parents, it was a rousing success! We opted not to open presents at the party, since there would be a few guests there for one child but not the other, and at this age the guests only care about their own presents being opened. So we brought home a huge 30-gallon garbage bag full of wrapped presents, and I was wondering how I'd ever be able to find places for DD to put them all away! As it turned out, once the packaging was removed, the bulk of the presents fit into a small (3 gal) storage bin. (I'm not sure whether to be pleased or appalled by the fact that most of the volume was taken up with disposable packaging). Being a small girl, there were the usual run of princess, purse/jewelry, and makeup presents. DD got a couple of Barbie items. I really don't care for Barbie things myself, but I find I certainly prefer them to Bratz. At least Barbies just have a bunch of different outfits and the occasional professional accessories. The only profession Bratz seem suited for is the world's oldest one! But anyway, DD is happy, the toys are pretty well stowed away, and a good time was had by all.
DsS came over Saturday for DD's party, and stayed over to Sunday. We played a full game of 4-player Britannia with gaming buddy J, and the day was capped by an episode of Conquerors on William of Normandy on the History Channel. How appropriate, given that we'd spent the day replaying the history of Britain.
Monday was most excellent from a stitching perspective. A new Secret Stitcher round has started, and I got several packages in the mail. From my new Secret Stitcher, I got some nice overdyed floss, some nummy British chocolate, and Passione Ricamo's "Once Upon A Time" and associated specialty fibers and beads! What an amazing opening gift. And from some unknown benefactor (who was not my SS - I asked), I got the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 2003 issue, some Piecemaker needles, and a nice opalescent hand-dyed fabric. Very lovely.
So that's been my week in review. Things will probably still be rather hectic the rest of the week in preparation for graduation.
On a side note, there have been a few changes in interstate wine shipments, which will be helpful to a budding wine snob like me! Wine is an integral part of many cultures, and it would be a shame to miss out on this aspect. One nice domestic vineyard DH discovered on a trip to San Diego is Orfila Vineyards. They have an excellent port, among other offerings. I've just tried a Gewürtztraminer from them. Fruity with a slight effervescence, and in my opinion would make a superior replacement to champagne for holiday sipping. I haven't tried a wine from Orfila I didn't like, so I certainly recommend them!
Anyway, such is the abridged version of my life this past week. If you know of any unemployed house-elves, send them my way!
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Randomness
Life has been busy the past few days, which explains the latency between entries. I'm just going to recap here, since I've been under the weather the past couple days.
This weekend we went to a fundraising semi-formal event for DD's school. It was fun to dress up nice, and I finally found dressy shoes that aren't murder on my feet. We had a good time, although the auction items we'd put up didn't go as well as we'd hoped. But with the hurricane season we just had, I can't really say I'm surprised.
DD and DsD both got perfect report cards this grading period, so we went out to breakfast on Saturday. Sunday we met DsS for lunch, and he came over for a bit.
Monday we went to an evening prayer service at which DH was singing. It was quite lovely, with candles and beautiful music. And DH did a great job, as always.
Yesterday I left work early because I was feeling rather woozy. I came home and took a nap before I picked up DD from our carpool partner's house. Last night I went to bed at a reasonable time, but the night was spent in a weird semi-conscious state that often accompanies illness for me. It seemed like I looked at the clock every hour, while my mind turned on strange thoughts, but I don't feel as tired as I expect I would if I didn't sleep at all. Very strange. I'm feeling clearer-headed today, if a bit wobbly.
I did get a progress picture of Last Supper. I'm 110 hours in so far, and it's shaping up rather well:
And more Peep fun - check out PeepResearch.org. Peeps in liquid nitrogen, among other things.
Now what I'd like to see is mixing the Mythbusters and Peeps....
This weekend we went to a fundraising semi-formal event for DD's school. It was fun to dress up nice, and I finally found dressy shoes that aren't murder on my feet. We had a good time, although the auction items we'd put up didn't go as well as we'd hoped. But with the hurricane season we just had, I can't really say I'm surprised.
DD and DsD both got perfect report cards this grading period, so we went out to breakfast on Saturday. Sunday we met DsS for lunch, and he came over for a bit.
Monday we went to an evening prayer service at which DH was singing. It was quite lovely, with candles and beautiful music. And DH did a great job, as always.
Yesterday I left work early because I was feeling rather woozy. I came home and took a nap before I picked up DD from our carpool partner's house. Last night I went to bed at a reasonable time, but the night was spent in a weird semi-conscious state that often accompanies illness for me. It seemed like I looked at the clock every hour, while my mind turned on strange thoughts, but I don't feel as tired as I expect I would if I didn't sleep at all. Very strange. I'm feeling clearer-headed today, if a bit wobbly.
I did get a progress picture of Last Supper. I'm 110 hours in so far, and it's shaping up rather well:
And more Peep fun - check out PeepResearch.org. Peeps in liquid nitrogen, among other things.
Now what I'd like to see is mixing the Mythbusters and Peeps....
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Battles of Britain
Where does the time go? It's been nearly a week since I've blogged! I'm not feeling overly inspired, so I'll have to go with another data dump. The travelblog is on my To-Do List for the week, though, so watch for more entertaining posts.
But without further ado - this week's edition of What I Did Over The Weekend.
Friday was an off-work Friday, and DH and I went appliance shopping. We're getting a new refrigerator - one of those side-by-sides with filtered ice and water in the door. Huzzah! No more funny tasting ice! Once the fridge is delivered and installed, that is! We're also getting a new dishwasher, since our old one has been in the throes of Degenerative Appliance Disease (caused by the virus Warrantiae expiredus).
Friday night I worked on getting our parish bulletin up on the church website. This is my first 'official' week as parish webmistress, and as with any transition of power there was a bit of adjustment involved. I did at least get the website updated on Friday - at around 10:30pm. I have this week's bulletin in hand already, so things should go much more smoothly!
Saturday, DsS came over. We were all pleased to see him, especially DD. We were amazed that he actually decided to get his hair cut and donated to Locks of Love (turned out to be 16" worth!), and seeing the before-and-after was rather dramatic. Basically, imagine going from Grima Wormtongue to Matt Damon. And he's been doing rather well and was rather upbeat. I confess I never gave a whole lot of thought to how serious BPD can be, and that it's not just 'all in your head' - the meds and counseling are working wonders. Very positive changes.
Anyway, while DsS was over, we played Kingmaker, a Wars of the Roses strategy game, and a family favorite. (I first played Kingmaker with DH and family friend M about a week after we married, and it's spurred an interest in that period of history.) We played a short-game variant, and I actually won. Barely. DD did pretty well also.
Sunday DH, gaming buddy J, and I played Britannia, another strategic board game involving Britain. This one is more of a big-picture look - each game turn covers about 50 years or so, and each player plays multiple tribes involved in the history of Britain. Tribes come and go over time. I thought from hearing DH read over the rules that it was going to be long and tedious, but it was actually relatively quick to play, and rather fun! It was neat to see peoples come and go as time and fortunes changed. We did the short-game version this time, but I'd be up for the full version sometime.
I've started crocheting again - it's something I can work on in situations where it's not really feasible to work on my stitching. I've started in on the rather popular 63 Squares Afghan crochet-along, after seeing several of my online friends working on it, and a bunch of other folks are joining me. I'm only about 4 squares in, so it'll take me a while. I'll still be giving priority to Last Supper whenever feasible.
Time is, as always, the determining factor in so many things....
But without further ado - this week's edition of What I Did Over The Weekend.
Friday was an off-work Friday, and DH and I went appliance shopping. We're getting a new refrigerator - one of those side-by-sides with filtered ice and water in the door. Huzzah! No more funny tasting ice! Once the fridge is delivered and installed, that is! We're also getting a new dishwasher, since our old one has been in the throes of Degenerative Appliance Disease (caused by the virus Warrantiae expiredus).
Friday night I worked on getting our parish bulletin up on the church website. This is my first 'official' week as parish webmistress, and as with any transition of power there was a bit of adjustment involved. I did at least get the website updated on Friday - at around 10:30pm. I have this week's bulletin in hand already, so things should go much more smoothly!
Saturday, DsS came over. We were all pleased to see him, especially DD. We were amazed that he actually decided to get his hair cut and donated to Locks of Love (turned out to be 16" worth!), and seeing the before-and-after was rather dramatic. Basically, imagine going from Grima Wormtongue to Matt Damon. And he's been doing rather well and was rather upbeat. I confess I never gave a whole lot of thought to how serious BPD can be, and that it's not just 'all in your head' - the meds and counseling are working wonders. Very positive changes.
Anyway, while DsS was over, we played Kingmaker, a Wars of the Roses strategy game, and a family favorite. (I first played Kingmaker with DH and family friend M about a week after we married, and it's spurred an interest in that period of history.) We played a short-game variant, and I actually won. Barely. DD did pretty well also.
Sunday DH, gaming buddy J, and I played Britannia, another strategic board game involving Britain. This one is more of a big-picture look - each game turn covers about 50 years or so, and each player plays multiple tribes involved in the history of Britain. Tribes come and go over time. I thought from hearing DH read over the rules that it was going to be long and tedious, but it was actually relatively quick to play, and rather fun! It was neat to see peoples come and go as time and fortunes changed. We did the short-game version this time, but I'd be up for the full version sometime.
I've started crocheting again - it's something I can work on in situations where it's not really feasible to work on my stitching. I've started in on the rather popular 63 Squares Afghan crochet-along, after seeing several of my online friends working on it, and a bunch of other folks are joining me. I'm only about 4 squares in, so it'll take me a while. I'll still be giving priority to Last Supper whenever feasible.
Time is, as always, the determining factor in so many things....
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Wednesday wrapup..
I still haven't gotten around to writing my travelogue yet - hopefully this weekend.
In the meantime, I'll just give a data dump of things as they stand.
Good news! We now have hurricane shutters installed - that happened on Friday. (We also got our tax refund, which will help pay for said shutters). Now we just need to get the roof patched!
I got another wonderful package from my Secret Stitcher! I got Victoria Sampler's Renaissance Lace and accessories, a beaded Celtic knot kit, DMC Medici wool (the first of the items for the MarBek Nativity), and a Vanilla Plum bath/body kit!
A local stitching friend picked up a large bag of knitting needles at a yard sale for $2, and she's letting me pick through it. So right now my computer room looks like a porcupine met a painful demise in it. There are some *real* nice needles, though! I can barely knit, but I want to become more proficient someday.
I had code reviews the past week, and all my code has passed. I'm pretty happy about that.
Mythbusters is on right now, so I'll just leave you with a couple of pics:
Altes Schloss, Baden-Baden, Germany
Heads up, Mom!
In the meantime, I'll just give a data dump of things as they stand.
Good news! We now have hurricane shutters installed - that happened on Friday. (We also got our tax refund, which will help pay for said shutters). Now we just need to get the roof patched!
I got another wonderful package from my Secret Stitcher! I got Victoria Sampler's Renaissance Lace and accessories, a beaded Celtic knot kit, DMC Medici wool (the first of the items for the MarBek Nativity), and a Vanilla Plum bath/body kit!
A local stitching friend picked up a large bag of knitting needles at a yard sale for $2, and she's letting me pick through it. So right now my computer room looks like a porcupine met a painful demise in it. There are some *real* nice needles, though! I can barely knit, but I want to become more proficient someday.
I had code reviews the past week, and all my code has passed. I'm pretty happy about that.
Mythbusters is on right now, so I'll just leave you with a couple of pics:
Altes Schloss, Baden-Baden, Germany
Heads up, Mom!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The storm before the calm...
The few days before one goes on vacation are hectic enough to make one need the vacation...
The girls and I leave for Germany in a couple days to join up with DH, and we've got packing, laundry, and various and sundry domestic details to handle. And that's not counting trying to get caught up at work! It always seems like the busiest day before one is out of the office is the day before one leaves.
But at least this vacation should be pretty relaxing. Plenty of good food, and beer (for DH and I anyway), some minor sightseeing. DD is very much looking forward to seeing snow. I'm looking forward to this trip, too. I've never been to Germany before.
So I had a long weekend, courtesy of a 6:30am call from a nun on Friday morning...
Overnight, a water pipe had burst in DD's school, flooding the second floor and parts of the first. So school was closed Friday and Monday, and with DH leaving town my weekend got extended to 3.5 days.
One might *think* I had time to get in plenty of stitching, reading, or other leisure activities, but 'twas not to be. I spent most of yesterday cleaning out DD's room in between processing Mommy interrupts. But at least now her room is clean except for vacuuming.
Tomorrow is packing day, once I get home from work. Never a dull moment.
Well, never a non-busy moment.
The girls and I leave for Germany in a couple days to join up with DH, and we've got packing, laundry, and various and sundry domestic details to handle. And that's not counting trying to get caught up at work! It always seems like the busiest day before one is out of the office is the day before one leaves.
But at least this vacation should be pretty relaxing. Plenty of good food, and beer (for DH and I anyway), some minor sightseeing. DD is very much looking forward to seeing snow. I'm looking forward to this trip, too. I've never been to Germany before.
So I had a long weekend, courtesy of a 6:30am call from a nun on Friday morning...
Overnight, a water pipe had burst in DD's school, flooding the second floor and parts of the first. So school was closed Friday and Monday, and with DH leaving town my weekend got extended to 3.5 days.
One might *think* I had time to get in plenty of stitching, reading, or other leisure activities, but 'twas not to be. I spent most of yesterday cleaning out DD's room in between processing Mommy interrupts. But at least now her room is clean except for vacuuming.
Tomorrow is packing day, once I get home from work. Never a dull moment.
Well, never a non-busy moment.
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Italy 2004
Germany 2005
