There was the project that turned into what I like to call "The Media Center from Hell Disaster". I shouldn't complain, I did learn that while I lurve playing with power tools, I should not attempt building things from scratch right now. I don't have all the tools I need, nor the space to try. (Botched attempt is banished to the basement where it serves as half-assed shelves.
I have a dresser in the attic that is not currently in use. Right now we have a third dresser stashed in the closet for D's long johns, sweatshirts and the such. If I can figure out how to rearrange the bedroom to accommodate the dresser in the attic then I can swipe the closet dresser and convert it to a tv stand type thing. The dresser in the attic is too tall for the tv, I don't want that stuck in the movie theater first row neck pain every time I try to watch tv, and too big to stash in the closet.
I'm thinking of mish-mashing the original idea and the dresser conversion thing. It's just crazy enough to work. (Or I'm just crazy enough to think it'll work, whichever)
On a side note, I'm beginning to love the rearranged living room. It's amazing how just moving things around a bit make such a difference. I'm off to scheme. Look for pictures or rants, depending on how it turns out!
Till then...
Update!!
It's gonna work!!! Not the way I originally planned, things have snowballed like you would not believe. 3, possibly 4 rooms are being affected, this is going to be a weekend ordeal!!! And, as an unbelievable bonus, I get my closet back!!! Wewt!! I'm off to do cartwheels and get busy!
Till then, again....
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Frustration... The Winter Edition
Good morning Boys & Girls, or something like that.
I've been rolling around in plastic, double-sided tape and weatherstripping goo. On the positive side, it's just a tidge warmer in my place. I've still got a few windows to do, but I have run out of plastic and motivation.
I managed to clean and rearrange my living room while I had the furniture pulled out. It's not fantastic, but it's livable. My kitchen is clean (until I make dinner, that is) and the middle room is getting there. Today's my day to get the place more than the usual I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone came in clean. Tomorrow the holiday decorations come down and then it's chaos until I figure out where everything should go.
It is impossible to put my tree in this living room, so it always ends up in the corner of the middle room, just on the other side of the living room. I'm going to be honest with you, I have not decorated for Yule for the last two years, I have just been in such a funk about it. This year is going to be different. I will be festive, and jolly, and get into the holiday spirit.
I'm not sure what's with me today, I'm very sleeping-bear-who-has-just-been-poked-repeatedly-with-a-pointy-stick. Although, I'm getting stuff done, so I shouldn't complain.
I'll be pretty busy the next couple of days, but I'm sure I'll be back with holiday-decorating fiasco stories, and maybe pictures if you're lucky!
Till then...
I've been rolling around in plastic, double-sided tape and weatherstripping goo. On the positive side, it's just a tidge warmer in my place. I've still got a few windows to do, but I have run out of plastic and motivation.
I managed to clean and rearrange my living room while I had the furniture pulled out. It's not fantastic, but it's livable. My kitchen is clean (until I make dinner, that is) and the middle room is getting there. Today's my day to get the place more than the usual I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone came in clean. Tomorrow the holiday decorations come down and then it's chaos until I figure out where everything should go.
It is impossible to put my tree in this living room, so it always ends up in the corner of the middle room, just on the other side of the living room. I'm going to be honest with you, I have not decorated for Yule for the last two years, I have just been in such a funk about it. This year is going to be different. I will be festive, and jolly, and get into the holiday spirit.
I'm not sure what's with me today, I'm very sleeping-bear-who-has-just-been-poked-repeatedly-with-a-pointy-stick. Although, I'm getting stuff done, so I shouldn't complain.
I'll be pretty busy the next couple of days, but I'm sure I'll be back with holiday-decorating fiasco stories, and maybe pictures if you're lucky!
Till then...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thirty Random Things About Me (or I'm a Sheepie)
So, one of the blogs I follow started one of these so I figured, what the hell. These are always fun, even if they make you think a bit too much. Anyhoo, here we go....
1. I'm terrified of clowns, creepy bastards that they are. Even Ronald McDonald sends me into a full body shiver. I don't know why, I was never traumatized at an early age by one or anything. They're just creepy. (You can also add mimes, bats, republicans, Glenn Beck, Fox News, and fundies to that list.)
2. I cry, too much. About the stupidest things. Most current example I can think of is I was rereading The Deathly Hallows (for probably the 27th time), and it had gotten to the part where Dobby dies. I'm sitting up in bed, tears streaming down my face and in walks D who looks at me, rolls his eyes and says "You're at the part where Dobby dies, aren't you?" (I was one of the sheepies who HAD to buy Deathly Hallows at midnight, sat up in bed reading the whole book in one night, woke D up with my sobbing the first time through). It's a bit pathetic some times.
3. I'm just a tidge obsessive. I get an idea in my head, something I want to do, or learn etc, and I can't concentrate on anything else until I've got it done. I have been known to forgo sleep to get something done. I am an odd bird.
4. I'm a pyromaniac, but not in the scary way. Candles, oil lamps, incense, warmth, I crave them. Mini-me, on the other hand has an unhealthy fear of flames. (Her sister once set her hair on fire trying to light a candle when they were 2 & 3, was a tidge scary). I have entirely too many (in Mini-me's estimation) candles and such scattered throughout the apartment. Hanging candles, candles on tables, candles on shelves, candles on walls, floating candles, the list goes on and on.... The less electric lights that are on, and the more candles that are lit, the happier I am. (That is until Mini-me follows behind me, blowing out all my candles....argh)
5. I prefer to eat soup out of a mug, not a bowl. When I was little and sick, my Mom used to give us soup in a mug (so we could hold it by the handle while we were lying on the couch). It still makes me feel better. On a side note, I also prefer to have parmesan cheese in my chicken soup. Trust me, it’s good.
6. I love the show Supernatural! Have to watch it every week, I’ll watch it online if I’ve missed Friday’s episode. Contrary to Mini-me’s opinion, it’s not because I’m in love with Jensen Ackles, (not that he’s not a cutie) but because of the riveting story lines and the fact that I’m in love with Misha Collins. (Seriously, check out his Twitter, he’s freakin’ hilarious!!!)
7. I also watch Destination Truth religiously. I love the scenery, the humor and I'm crushing on Josh Gates a bit, I think it's the Kermit voice thing he's got going on.
8. Listening to my Ipod on shuffle is an extremely disturbing activity, it should not be done. By all means, put a playlist on shuffle but not the whole thing. I once made that mistake and ended up with:
- Rob Zombie
- Brad Paisley
- Loreena McKennit
- Bobby Darin
- Bagpipes
- some japanese song I could not identify
- Led Zeppelin
- That annoying 'I like to move it, move it' song
- more Rob Zombie
- Hinder
9. I hate shoes, socks, any sort of foot covering at all. It would make me immensely happy to never cover my feet again, ever.
10. I'm not partial to bras either. My happiest days are the ones where the big three are avoided (shoes, bras & make-up!)
11. I hate doing my hair. I prefer long, straight, tucked behind my ears. Keep your hair dryers, curling irons, etc. etc. I don't even like pulling it back into a pony tail (gives me the worst headaches).
12. I'm incredibly insecure. I hate that, and I try not to be, but it still manages to rear it's ugly head from time to time. I'm working on it though.
13. I make jokes at the most inappropriate times. When the stress gets to me, or I don't know how to deal with something I make jokes. More often than not it goes ok, every once in a while it backfires.
14. I have inadvertently started a war on facebook with my bff. It started with her posting "Brand New Key" on my page, couldn't get it out of my head all day, so I countered with "MMMBop" (yes, I sunk to Hansen). I cringe to think what could be on my page next....
15. I love to cook. I absolutely adore it, baking, roasting, etc. etc. etc. My only problem is I pick so much while I'm doing these things that when its time to eat, I'm too full to eat with everyone else!
16. I'm a very undisciplined housekeeper. I'll be good for awhile, the OCD in me demands lists. Can't accomplish much without a list. After a while I'll take a day off, things go to hell and it takes me weeks to catch up. Another thing I'm working on.
17. I'm terrified of dead mice (not that fond of the living ones either). One afternoon we walked in, Jabba had gotten one and left it in the middle of the middle room for us (how sweet). I screamed like a girl and Mini-me ended up taking care of it for me. To this day they still laugh about that.
18. I have IBS and I hate it! I refuse to take the medication, so I suffer through the flare-ups. I can pretty much keep it manageable with diet, but stress kills it. I went almost a year with no flares, but this month has pretty much killed me.
19. I will read the same books over and over and over. There are a few books (and series of books) that I have to reread constantly. These include: Clive Barker's Imajica, Harry Potter (all 7), LOTR + The Hobbit, The Fifth Sacred Thing & Walking To Mercury (by Starhawk, unbelievably beautiful books!), MZB's Avalon series (Mists of, Lady of, Priestess of, Forest House etc. etc.)
20. I talk to myself, alot. It tends to annoy the people around me, but hey, that's me. Sometimes I even argue.... Occasionally I can pass it off as talking to the cats, but everyone's on to me. I'm not just talking about mumbling a few things under my breath, I'm talking about very animated, very passionate conversations. (And that's one step closer to the straight jacket for me!)
21. I must be very boring as I'm struggling to find 10 more things.....
22. My favorite charity of the moment is.... Random Acts Stolen directly from their FAQs:
On December 3, 2009, Misha Collins, who currently portrays the angel Castiel on Supernatural, used Twitter to ask his followers (affectionately termed “minions”) to come up with ideas for a “minionstimulus” project. The goal was to obtain U.S. government stimulus money (funding to aid endeavors to stop an economic recession) for non-profit “minion” initiatives.
The pursuit of government funding was soon abandoned in favor of morphing into a privately organized charity group, formerly known as MinionStimulus. After visiting our fledgling website, Misha appointed Lisa Walker his Director of Charitable Affairs and provided her with some initial direction. Together, Misha and Lisa began marshaling the forces of good at their disposal.
Since that auspicious beginning, our organization has gone through several changes, including our name. We’ve come a long way and now have non-profit status through our parent organization, The Art Department, Inc. With Misha and Lisa’s direction and leadership, and the daily attention of an extraordinary administrative team, we have an organization poised to conquer the world, one random act of kindness at a time.
23. Alot of people think I'm mean, standoffish or just plain scary. In all actuality, I'm not. I believe I mentioned insecure earlier, if I am not comfortable I tend to withdraw and come across as mean. I don't mean to, its not intentional. Believe me, if I don't like you, you will know.
24. I have a twisted sense of humor, very twisted, sometimes bordering on illegal, and most definitely usually in poor taste.
25. I can't honestly believe that anyone would want to know this much about me. I don't even want to know this much about me.
26. My favorite word of the moment is 'stabbity'.
27. I'm a sucker for back rubs.
28. When I yell, I sound like my mother, and that terrifies me....
29. I name things, inanimate things, animate things, I don't care if you already have a name, I will more than likely nickname you and never call you by any other.
30. I will watch all 24 hours of A Christmas Story when TBS runs it, even though I own the dvd, and only put it in when I'm decorating for the holidays!
Finally, done. So, if you are so obliged, be a sheepie like me and do this yourself, post it on your blog, your facebook, wherever. Randomly email it to strangers. Have fun with it!!
Till then....
20. I talk to myself, alot. It tends to annoy the people around me, but hey, that's me. Sometimes I even argue.... Occasionally I can pass it off as talking to the cats, but everyone's on to me. I'm not just talking about mumbling a few things under my breath, I'm talking about very animated, very passionate conversations. (And that's one step closer to the straight jacket for me!)
21. I must be very boring as I'm struggling to find 10 more things.....
22. My favorite charity of the moment is.... Random Acts Stolen directly from their FAQs:
On December 3, 2009, Misha Collins, who currently portrays the angel Castiel on Supernatural, used Twitter to ask his followers (affectionately termed “minions”) to come up with ideas for a “minionstimulus” project. The goal was to obtain U.S. government stimulus money (funding to aid endeavors to stop an economic recession) for non-profit “minion” initiatives.
The pursuit of government funding was soon abandoned in favor of morphing into a privately organized charity group, formerly known as MinionStimulus. After visiting our fledgling website, Misha appointed Lisa Walker his Director of Charitable Affairs and provided her with some initial direction. Together, Misha and Lisa began marshaling the forces of good at their disposal.
Since that auspicious beginning, our organization has gone through several changes, including our name. We’ve come a long way and now have non-profit status through our parent organization, The Art Department, Inc. With Misha and Lisa’s direction and leadership, and the daily attention of an extraordinary administrative team, we have an organization poised to conquer the world, one random act of kindness at a time.
23. Alot of people think I'm mean, standoffish or just plain scary. In all actuality, I'm not. I believe I mentioned insecure earlier, if I am not comfortable I tend to withdraw and come across as mean. I don't mean to, its not intentional. Believe me, if I don't like you, you will know.
24. I have a twisted sense of humor, very twisted, sometimes bordering on illegal, and most definitely usually in poor taste.
25. I can't honestly believe that anyone would want to know this much about me. I don't even want to know this much about me.
26. My favorite word of the moment is 'stabbity'.
27. I'm a sucker for back rubs.
28. When I yell, I sound like my mother, and that terrifies me....
29. I name things, inanimate things, animate things, I don't care if you already have a name, I will more than likely nickname you and never call you by any other.
30. I will watch all 24 hours of A Christmas Story when TBS runs it, even though I own the dvd, and only put it in when I'm decorating for the holidays!
Finally, done. So, if you are so obliged, be a sheepie like me and do this yourself, post it on your blog, your facebook, wherever. Randomly email it to strangers. Have fun with it!!
Till then....
Word of the Day #14
Today's word............
Procrastination!!
(ah, I'll celebrate later.....)
It's cold, it's snowing (supposedly lake effect snow later today.... for you lucky creatures who don't live here in the Great Lakes region, when the cold cold wind blows over the still warm lake, it picks up water and such and dumps it ceremoniously as TOO MUCH SNOW! Think of it as a snowstorm on steroids, with roid-rage), I'm so not human today, blah, blah, blah.
Enough complaining. 2/3 of the kids are home, so that's a good thing. It's a loud thing, but still good. I have lists and lists of things I want to accomplish, I'm just lacking the motivation to get moving and do them. I think it's a good day to plan. If I light enough candles, I can pretend it's a fireplace and just stay here on couch, curled up in blankets, and just visualize what I want done.
Of course, I won't. Kids need fed, kitchen needs tidied, laundry needs folded, the list goes on and on. One more mug of Chai and I'm moving, really, I promise....
On the creative side, I was recently given6, 5 small glass bowls (very very delicate, accidentally knock one on the floor and it shatters) I'm turning into little holiday candle holders this afternoon. If I get to it, I'll put them on here tonight.
Till then....
Procrastination!!
(ah, I'll celebrate later.....)
It's cold, it's snowing (supposedly lake effect snow later today.... for you lucky creatures who don't live here in the Great Lakes region, when the cold cold wind blows over the still warm lake, it picks up water and such and dumps it ceremoniously as TOO MUCH SNOW! Think of it as a snowstorm on steroids, with roid-rage), I'm so not human today, blah, blah, blah.
Enough complaining. 2/3 of the kids are home, so that's a good thing. It's a loud thing, but still good. I have lists and lists of things I want to accomplish, I'm just lacking the motivation to get moving and do them. I think it's a good day to plan. If I light enough candles, I can pretend it's a fireplace and just stay here on couch, curled up in blankets, and just visualize what I want done.
Of course, I won't. Kids need fed, kitchen needs tidied, laundry needs folded, the list goes on and on. One more mug of Chai and I'm moving, really, I promise....
On the creative side, I was recently given
Till then....
Monday, November 29, 2010
More Randoms
I don't know how your mornings are going, but I am loving Quiet Morning #2. I've been up since 6am reveling in the peace. It's a little odd, but I'm enjoying.
I got a little caught up yesterday. My fortune-telling abilities are seriously in question though. D came home about 15 minutes after I got the living room & bedroom done, and what does he do????? Takes over my kitchen. I was in the middle of finishing dishes, had about 15 other small projects I wanted to do and in he walks. (and for the record... beef jerky ties up the oven for HOURS!)
The kitchen is roughly the size of a largish shoe box, so one person in there pretty much fills it up. Needless to say, I will be spending a chunk of today in there, getting my stuff done. I will give him credit, he spent the afternoon making beef jerky and cleaned up after himself!! You don't understand the thrill that gives me! Some women crave roses, candy, jewels, cars, all I want is to walk into the kitchen and not be able to tell that someone just cooked something.
So, after I finish my kitchen I've got a whole list of things I want to tackletoday this week.
Till then...
I got a little caught up yesterday. My fortune-telling abilities are seriously in question though. D came home about 15 minutes after I got the living room & bedroom done, and what does he do????? Takes over my kitchen. I was in the middle of finishing dishes, had about 15 other small projects I wanted to do and in he walks. (and for the record... beef jerky ties up the oven for HOURS!)
The kitchen is roughly the size of a largish shoe box, so one person in there pretty much fills it up. Needless to say, I will be spending a chunk of today in there, getting my stuff done. I will give him credit, he spent the afternoon making beef jerky and cleaned up after himself!! You don't understand the thrill that gives me! Some women crave roses, candy, jewels, cars, all I want is to walk into the kitchen and not be able to tell that someone just cooked something.
So, after I finish my kitchen I've got a whole list of things I want to tackle
- Shelves in The Boy's Lair. Space is at a minimum in there and something has to be done. Especially since Hostage Kitty lives here now and still is at odds with the Grumpy Old Men. (She did venture out of the living room yesterday, she spent an hour on my bed till she hissed at Bulimic Kitty and then straight back to the lair. Woke up this morning to her sleeping on my laptop. Go figure.) While I thought she was a temporary hostage, we decided to keep her litter box & food in the Lair, well, it's shaping up to be not so temporary so rearranging must be done! I have the wood to make shelves, I've just got to get the brackets to hang them up. Two 15x30 shelves should be sufficient to get the toys off the floor. Then it's just a matter of hanging some more camo and rearranging the lights and it should look sufficiently cool.
- Organizing the basement. It's horrid down there, absolutely horrid. Picture mid 14th century dungeon and then add clutter. I also have to get better lighting down there if I'm going to keep painting. On a positive note, the disaster that was going to be the Media Center from Hell will serve as suitable organizational stuffs!
- Start bringing down the Yule decorations. There are years of accumulation there, I'm considering cleaning out the collection. I have a problem throwing sentimental stuff out, there is stuff in there I will never hang again, but I have a hard time letting go of things, even when I know I should, especially when it's importance is in my heart, not in its function.
- Organizing the attic. Venturing up there to snag the decorations will lead to organizing the attic. The attic is slightly more organized then the basement, but not by much!
- Start the holiday baking. Okay, definitely not today, but I'm doing the whole week now.....
- Rearrange the middle room to accommodate the tree. That's a whole day of frustration....
- Sew, sew, sew and maybe a bit more sewing....
- That should be enough, maybe, kinda sorta....
Till then...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Word of the Day #13
I know it's been a few days but.....
(singing, dancing, exultation of joy)
Today's word is.............
Peace (as in ...and Quiet)
(spin, dance, jump, woo-hoo)
For the first time in what feels likes weeks, but I'm sure is actually days, I am alone. I am lounging on the couch, enjoying my coffee, surveying the damage, savoring the quiet. The tv is actually on something I want to watch, I do not hear a single video game, computer game, an I'm Bored, what can I do? or any usual noise associated with the wee ones. And I have 48 hours of it!!
As far as today goes, I'm not sure how long I have D out of the way. My battle plans today include damage control. Fortune teller that I am, I foresee either the living room or the bedroom being taken over when he comes home from tearing apart whatever piece of machinery had the sheer audacity to dare break down the day before the first day of deer.(That most revered holiday in D's life, forget Xmas, Turkey Day, anything else. It's all about walking around in the woods.) Those are at the top of my must-do list today. I get them out of the way, I'm free and clear on the rest of the list.
All the little things (and a few big things) that slipped through the cracks the last week will be attended to. I love it when everyone is here, more than anything, I'm just excited that I have this little bit of time to get everything taken care of, alone.
A constant theme in this blog is how small this place is. Everyone is in everyone's face constantly, and especially when it's vacation, and bedtimes become a bit lax, and it's the holiday's and we're going there, or people are coming here, things get neglected, pushed off till later and I can't stand it!!!! I need this time to catch up and maybe, just maybe get ahead a little!
Yesterday was wonderful, spent the afternoon at my brothers, played with the kids, visited with OLCCS (I wish she lived closer!!! I miss her sooooooo bad!!) There was, of course, the usual shrill, high-pitched screeching (and not the babies, the grown-ups. We're primarily Italian, German, Irish & Native American, that's a NASTY combination for tempers and such), that's what makes it the holidays (or a Tuesday, doesn't matter). But it's family. And more than anything I love my family.
Today however, I'm on a mission, and without the usual distractions I'm getting it done.
So, without further adieu.....
Till then....
(singing, dancing, exultation of joy)
Today's word is.............
Peace (as in ...and Quiet)
(spin, dance, jump, woo-hoo)
For the first time in what feels likes weeks, but I'm sure is actually days, I am alone. I am lounging on the couch, enjoying my coffee, surveying the damage, savoring the quiet. The tv is actually on something I want to watch, I do not hear a single video game, computer game, an I'm Bored, what can I do? or any usual noise associated with the wee ones. And I have 48 hours of it!!
As far as today goes, I'm not sure how long I have D out of the way. My battle plans today include damage control. Fortune teller that I am, I foresee either the living room or the bedroom being taken over when he comes home from tearing apart whatever piece of machinery had the sheer audacity to dare break down the day before the first day of deer.(That most revered holiday in D's life, forget Xmas, Turkey Day, anything else. It's all about walking around in the woods.) Those are at the top of my must-do list today. I get them out of the way, I'm free and clear on the rest of the list.
All the little things (and a few big things) that slipped through the cracks the last week will be attended to. I love it when everyone is here, more than anything, I'm just excited that I have this little bit of time to get everything taken care of, alone.
A constant theme in this blog is how small this place is. Everyone is in everyone's face constantly, and especially when it's vacation, and bedtimes become a bit lax, and it's the holiday's and we're going there, or people are coming here, things get neglected, pushed off till later and I can't stand it!!!! I need this time to catch up and maybe, just maybe get ahead a little!
Yesterday was wonderful, spent the afternoon at my brothers, played with the kids, visited with OLCCS (I wish she lived closer!!! I miss her sooooooo bad!!) There was, of course, the usual shrill, high-pitched screeching (and not the babies, the grown-ups. We're primarily Italian, German, Irish & Native American, that's a NASTY combination for tempers and such), that's what makes it the holidays (or a Tuesday, doesn't matter). But it's family. And more than anything I love my family.
Today however, I'm on a mission, and without the usual distractions I'm getting it done.
So, without further adieu.....
Till then....
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