Weird

We had a garbage collection service for a while, but only because they bought out our first choice collection service.  And this (usurper) service we subscribed to was a large 'pain in the rubbish' from the very beginning.

They were problematic.  They were sporadic.  They were hit or miss.  They were sub-standard.   They were non-responsive.  They were messy.  They were Waste Management.

At some point - at least one full month AFTER I told them to take a hike; that I wasn't going to pay their exorbitant and outrageous rate hike (PLUS an additional rate to cover a fuel bill for their collection trucks) - I had to call them again to let them know their container was still sitting in front of my home, and that I expected they would retrieve it in short order.

Well, that second call was in early NOVEMBER!

It wasn't until mid-December that a truck stopped out in front of the house a finally snagged the recycling bucket from the yard.  The wind was having a pretty fabulous time knocking it about up until that time.

We had a second (dark green, square-ish) container up near the front porch which we used to toss the cat doot bags into, from which we would collect them all into another larger bag that would go out to the curb on trash collection day.  It was a system which worked for us.

This second dark green box sat against the front porch, behind the stairs, and was usually shielded further from view by my car - the Duke.  So imagine my surprise this morning when I opened the front door to quickly pitch the bag of freshly harvested cat bombs into our green bucket, only to find - - - NO GREEN RECEPTACLE!

That's right, you guessed it.  Someone help themselves to our bucket full of feces baggies!

But I think I am more upset that they didn't take the two larger offerings of complete cat box changes away with it all!  I mean, those were neatly bagged and ready to go.

;)

Some people, right?

2008 says "merry Christmas" to me

Aahhh....it's honestly more like 2009 or 2010, really, but who's keeping track anyway?

I have wanted Bud's old tires moved out of the middle of the garage floor (to a less inconvenient spot) for quite some time now. Every time I've asked for his help in moving them - or for him to simply do it himself - I would come up against vague mumbled promises and grumbly attitude.

I can do without the 'tude!

It wasn't only that the tires were (have been) in the way all this time, but because they were useless and BALD and unsafe to use for any reason, I couldn't understand why he brought them home!

I could never figure out why he didn't have them removed from the rims and dispensed with when he finally bought himself a brand new set of tires. I mean, he....they...were all right there in the tire place!

Since that time (the advent of the new tires), many are the occasions when the suggestion had been made to throw the four wheels into the back of 'the Duke' and get the dirty deed done.

Every time I journeyed into the garage in a fit of cleaning (in hopes of carving out a place to park for the winter), I was stymied by those darned tires!

The great tower of tread-less rubber.

I could barely move them without straining something vital, and they were an even bigger nuisance to try and maneuver around.

So, yesterday, in a fit of whatever mood I was in, I dragged the boys outdoors and had them assist me with a little garage remodeling. Not much, mind you (nowhere near enough to my liking), but it was a fabulous 22 minutes!

We took the AC unit out of the LR and stored it; cleaned out a smattering of useless bits and pieces just laying about, reconfigured some of the larger standing items...and removed those darned tires before Bud could utter a noise.

I didn't give him a chance or a choice...just said grab 'em and let's load 'em up and get 'em stripped down to the rims! Today! [insert cracking whip noise here]

Well, long story medium-sized:

We got the tires to the dealer in short order, and the rims were laid bare in less than fifteen minutes - and for far less than I anticipated it would cost!

Without saying "I told you so", once we arrived home I simply told the boy "thank you" for getting that nasty task out of the way, and pointed to the 23" of floor space the rims have been allocated - on what may become his side of the garage (provided he can continue cleaning out a spot for his v-dub).

Ha! Merry Christmas, indeed.

A little bit

Today was a-little-bit-of-a-lot-of-stuff-kinda-day.

Worked on piecing the quilt in process; more rinsing, ironing, cutting, pairing, sewing, hanging - the tedious stuff. I managed to get very little 'actual sewing' done. Two sets of hexes, to be exact. M-m-m-aybe three. There was very little sunlight to work with, so I'm thinking my mood was somewhat affected.

Paid some bills (the littlest ones).

Listened to the radio....until the commercials drove me to distraction. That didn't take long.

Ultimately ended up in the garage, intending to get some books together for the upcoming flea market. I ended up cleaning out some stuff and making room! Felt good, but I only managed to get a little stack of books set aside for the sale in all of that time.

In the grand scheme of things, I truly only managed to get a little cleaning/purging done, too, but hey....it is more space opened up and crap out to the curb, so-o-o-o-o....

Now, if I could only manage to get Brian to take his old, bald tires to a station to have them taken off of the rims, and get them out of the middle of the garage!! That would be a little victory!

Hope you made little dents in your needful chores.

Oh, my goodness

We are getting snow, but not in the way the prognosticators were hyping it. And quite frankly, with the lack of 'winter' we've experienced this winter, I am quite alright with this whole messy weekend.

I will, of course, have 'mommy worry syndrome' when Bud heads in to work on icy highways and back roads tomorrow, but until then...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Cleo seems out of sorts today, and it is oddly enough coinciding with Brian's latest kidney stone.

He began to see blood in his stream and experience the pain in his side yesterday, which heralds a new kidney stone. From this point it can be a few quick days or a week to ten days before it passes. Typically, his time frame runs about five to seven days from start to finish. I will keep you posted on this story.

Karl is well and helping out around the house - sometimes reluctantly (oh, who am I kidding? It's mostly accomplished with reluctance and mooing). But he had a measure of pride mid-week in stripping down his bed, washing the entire lot, flipping and turning the mattress, then re-making it with fresh laundry. He was very pleased upon crawling into bed that night!

Score!

Earlier in the week he nearly single handedly made dinner for us all, and that was another coup. I will take them where I can get them.

Spent this morning sorting through the online bookstore listings, pulling things that have too much 'competition' (from other sellers) and bundling two and three books into bonus listings. Sadly, this means people will actually have to read the descriptions to see they get quite a good deal for their money, but I truly wonder who reads anything any more. Most folks just go into an online sight looking at the prices, and not realizing that I sometimes sell two or three books with one title. [forehead smacking]

A seller is very limited in the way things can be listed, and therefore drawing attention to the bonuses is difficult unless the buyers read (the descriptions)!

I guess we'll see if the work and restructuring pays off. I would still like to list another one hundred or so titles, but I am currently out of space in the library to shelve them while they would be listed for sale.

Maybe today would be a good day to clean out my old script supervisor logs and get stuff moved out to the garage and into short term storage. Hmmm. Perhaps I could begin moving a piece or two (or three) of furniture in the lower level, and get that ordeal begun. Reconfiguring that space would be a boon, and would allow me to really shake things up upstairs!

Oh, to be moving forward again.

What are you all up to?

What a week

There were appointments a-plenty, meetings up the hoo-ha, bills to pay, emergencies to manage and things to get done. Conversations about jobs, visits with friends, shopping and time spent with my sons. There was even some time spent on the road delivering people to college dorms. Blitzkrieg-cleaning and scheming and laundry, and the arrival (finally) of the software and the last bit of hardware for Karl to be able to animate/illustrate here at home. Yea!

Oh, and sadly, the realization that I have managed to put back all of the pounds that I whittled away over the last year. It begins again. [heavy sigh]

And the good news....[we] get to do it all again beginning Monday!

Also with the new week, I will begin to sell - online - the stock remaining from the children's bookshop I once owned and operated. Hopefully I will begin that enterprise (with help from Jean) tomorrow.

For the better part of the last two weeks or so I have been pulling in titles from storage and pairing books with corresponding themes and/or age ranges to make assortments for folks to purchase, instead of just one book at a time. Books about colors, numbers, the alphabet, science, summer activities, dogs and cats, feelings, etc., will be paired and sold in bundles, perhaps enabling me to sell more in a shorter amount of time. Hopefully it will also eliminate a good portion of the leftover stock and put some badly needed cash into the coffers.

The cleaning and planning will continue. I find a lot of satisfaction and relief in paring down and clearing corners and shelves. The thought of entering another 'age decade' this spring has given me a new sense of purpose in attacking ghosts and shadows (and accumulating piles) and sweeping them out of my life. Focusing on the necessary and the here-and-now means having to 'make room,' and what better way to do that than to let go of those things that are weighing me down and holding me back. The stuff that is taking up space physically and emotionally needs to go away. Far, far away.

What a revelation.

What a week.

Went through 20 boxes yesterday...at least

That isn't saying very much, when I compare it to the thirty-plus boxes still waiting to be gone through.

Aaarrrgh! ah-iiii-eeeeeee!!

Oh, yeah, if you haven't read up in a while, I will simply say I am selling books at a sale next Saturday - in Flint. Back to the entry.

This is crazy, and all in such short order. Ah well, it really needs to happen, so I suppose it doesn't matter what forces the change (but, if it means ending up with some badly needed capital at the end of the day and making room in the garage, then who am I to stand in the way of progress, fate, karma....the soul train?).

[sorry, ran off on a bad tangent, there -- I'm back]

In sorting through and selecting the merchandise to take to this "ladies day out" sale, I have located a small number of items that aren't price marked, either by the manufacturer or myself. I've looked these things up online, and in some instances found they aren't even referenced by their own manufacturer or publishing company any longer, or have been phased out by newer items.

Collectables!!!!

Of course, if I want to get rid of this stuff (and I do), I need to keep the prices low enough to make buying piles of books (or, more than one item, anyway) by anyone a good ($) idea, and not an 'oh-I-don't-know-I-guess-I'll-think-about-it-maybe-I'll-be-back' sort of coin-toss decision.

Yes! America!!!! Buying books is worthwhile. Noble! Exhilarating! Intelligent! A way to send a message to the youth of the world who learn by example! Buy a book and read it with your children...your grandchildren! Give a book to your favorite teacher, for crying out loud. Gift the classroom for decades of kids to come! I even have upper L reading material. :)

[hairpulling, teeth gnashing, saliva flowing]

I guess I am a little crazed on the subject, but not purely as a purveyor of literature. My deeply twisted feelings on the subject are what got me into selling children's books in the first place.

Do a girl a favor, please. Buy some books (from me, preferably) next weekend.

Thanks.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to toddle back out to the garage and sort some more merchandise to sell to the masses. It's not easy needing 'green'.

Finally finished it! Endings and beginnings.

I finished quilting and binding a wall hanging a few days ago, and decided to apply a sleeve, since that's the only good way for it to hang, really...on a wall...as a "wallhanging."

It has had a long ride from inception to completion; from Hadley to Clarkston; from here to there.

The boys and I have also come a long way during all that time.

They have grown so much; in fact, they completed their own 'journeys' from boyhood into young men. And I learned a lot about myself, and the world around me, while that quilt lay waiting for attention. I learned to stop letting things wait, and to stop waiting for what it is I want.

My expectations of myself and my goals - and of those around me - has changed, too.

I have been spending these past few weeks unearthing the remainders of my life (to this moment in time) from the boxes I had relegated it all to when we moved ten years ago.

Some of those boxes were opened at the time of the move, the possessions sorted through...and then re-packed and shuffled off to the garage, where they have been sitting all of this time!

Some of it I was overjoyed to see again and have found ways to integrate it back into my world, but much of it I have been able to view with a harsher eye and have let it go. The piles and walls I had built around myself (and in the garage) are coming down. Paths to and from my door have opened, and they become wider and easier to navigate with every passing day.

On those days when I walk out to the garage and roll up my sleeves, determined to make a dent in the clutter and debris, I chant "be merciless" over and over. Not in my head but out loud. I open a new garbage bag or place a newly emptied box on the floor to receive the unnecessary items, and begin to clean and purge. I allow myself a moment to reflect on some things, and then make the decision regarding that item's fate. It's been exhilarating....freeing....cathartic.

I found two large boxes of photos I had thought were lost for good! I uncovered items I no longer care if they stay or go - and out they went! I have made such a change in the landscape that I managed to reclaim floor space in front of a window that I am now using for a gardening area; even planted several trays of seeds - both flowers and veggies - and soon will be able to get these in the ground outside!

My commitment to myself to change and grow and move forward is becoming reality. It's been fun, and a lot of work...but all of it has been worthwhile. There is still a lot to do out there, but I am ok with it.

There are still a lot of [quilting] projects to complete before beginning something new, and as much as I daydream about what is to come and what I want to start next, I know there are things I must finish first. Some to 'clean out the corners' and widen my path and field of vision, some to simply make room, and others just to finish for the sake of not letting it hang in limbo any more.

Rainy day number 2

Woke up to the sound of rain this morning, not once - but twice. My understanding of last night's forecast was that the rain would come in overnight and be gone and out of the area by mid-morning to early afternoon. Early!

Feh! Feh and fooey on those ragamuffin weather dorks!

Well, I waited, and I found things to do inside. I even worked on one of my woeful leftover quilts - one that was begun long ago but left in the dust of the move (ten years ago) and while I came up with other projects. It is now much closer to being completely quilted and in need of binding, so I will search through my stash to find something I have a yard of...or will I?

At any rate, I grew weary of waiting for the weather to cooperate, and began chomping at the bit. Finally the clouds ceased their leaking and I prepared to go out back on the patio and hang the load of laundry I had done the night before - in anticipation of being able to hang it out on the line! However, as soon as I stepped outside, the rain began to spatter again, and dark clouds moved in as if by magic. Doggone it!

And yes, the raindrops preceded the clouds - I don't know how it happened, but there it was.

At that point I just figured to start working on the garage instead, and shanghaied Brian into assisting me with the whole process, while sneezy Karl washed dishes and cleaned the bathroom.

We did get a fair amount of stuff cleaned out of the nooks and crannies at the front of the garage; consolidated, stacked in a more orderly sort of chaos and with some thought as to what should be in front of whatever else for ease in accessing anything (should access to anything ever become necessary). There is still a long way to go, but a lot of the mess is now in hand, and things are either tagged for yard sale destiny or well out of the way.

We even acquired floor space by the end of the upheaval! Once the garbage goes to the curb this week, there will be a decided change to the look and room available in the garage. Brian was excited to find we had created a whole other path from the kitchen door to the front of the garage - and I am glad there is progress without much pain.

If the half wall for the island is ever built in the kitchen, and I can actually un-crate my new range and get it into the house, that will really open up a lot of room! Hey, we might actually get to park in the garage again, too!

What a concept! LOL

Until then, I will simply keep chipping away at the catastrophy that has become my garage. Someday, when we've got sunny May days to count on, we will have a yard sale and rid ourselves of some of the items we no longer need, and put a little coinage in our pockets in the process.

Yesterday was sort of worthwhile

Karl was picked up (late) by a driver to get down to Oak Park for his first day of this New Horizons "Soft Skills" [training] thing. It's been a long time in coming - something effective, proactive, promised from this damn state agency, and I am at wits end. But the newest case worker (in a long line of MRS people to touch his file) is a little more on the ball than the rest, so MAYBE there's hope for a little while. 'bout the time we get used to her, she will move on, too.

Although, she only has access to whatever she can find and get approved by her supervisor to help Karl, and there are as many scam artists and sham businesses out there for persons with special needs as there are programs for training for the unemployed lately - willing to take training dollars from the state for faux work training and not really produce a whole lot of results.

In his absence, I went to work on Karl's room, cleaning and packing and getting ready to spackle and sand and then paint in order to FINISH another PROJECT and cross it off of my longstanding to-do list.

He returned home well after four o'clock, and he wasn't happy when he rounded the corner and saw empty shelves and 3 boxes lined up, and bare surface area on his floor and on the desk. Today will probably make him less pleased, but there's no turning back. I need to get this done.

Of course, it all would have gone faster yesterday had Cleo not been sick and suffering another blockage. There was a lot of lost time following the poor girl and cleaning up after her until the 'cork finally popped' (so to speak). Today, she has an appetite and is her twinkly, chirpy, stretchy little self again, but I will continue to watch and listen for her throughout the day...just in case. Today will consist of moving furniture, taking things out to the garage, vacuuming 'til the sucker busts and general prep work. Tomorrow, I will be up on a ladder, and then the real fun begins!

Wish me luck and think good thoughts. I am afraid of whatever may be lurking under things and in those corners! ;^)

Ho-hum

Spent the last couple of days cleaning various closets and nooks, rearranging a kitchen "pantry" closet (tiny little thing) and one cupboard, while putting away the booty from our recent grocery shopping mission. And it never seems to stop, does it?

Karl has had to be pushed and pulled into finishing the project for class, which is due at 6pm sharp. Because his understanding and current skillset in Photoshop exceeds where the instructor is currently taking the class, he is bored out of his mind, so getting him to complete (OK, let's be real...getting him to sit and START the assignment) was a freakin' chore.

Compound the whole mess with the CS4 we have at home v. the CS3 at school, and you have something akin to a Stephen King novel nightmare. There are enough little differences between them to make it a bit of a pain, and despite our incredibly mammoth editing suite, the CS4 has glitches that make using the tool a hassle. Something is gorped with the functionality/response time (which just frustrated and distracted Karl to no end), so I can imagine a long phone call with a help desk rep in my future.

I have the same jerky issues while using Premiere Pro, so it may be something with the monster, too. It may solely be the monster and not the software, or it could be a combo...either way, I do not relish the idea of having to take the damn thing to Troy for a look-see.

Still working on gathering the paperwork to satisfy the MI Works/No Worker Left Behind program requirements. What a crock! My meeting date has moved from the end of September to the end of July, which I am taking as a good sign. I figure if I get it together quickly, I may be ready when they call one day soon to tell me it's been moved again to the end of June. Wouldn't that be groovy?!

C'mon, cosmic stars...align!

Until then, though, I will cut out dresses and tops to make and wear for the summer of fat, work on my gift for Gram's 98th birthday, continue to send out resumes and please-hire-me-cover letters, shepherd Karl to and from class, edit together new demos and pray for a call from a hiring manager.

All I really want to do right now is weed the garden.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The second episode of my lovely Canadian boyfriend's show was on last night, and man...is he fun to watch! Merry Christmas to me!

Other than that, I have nothing.

Oh, and yes, I have three boyfriends, and one pseudo BF. They are all creatures you wouldn't normally find on your friendly neighborhood grocery shelf...unless you had a really good grocer with a keen eye and a fantastic budget, but they are nutritious, delicious, and (probably) don't taste just like chicken.

Ah, but who cares!? If I want chicken I'll go see the colonel.

I may end up having to move my original BF to "pseudo" status, and move the current PBF to the major league.

Pity. I luvs me original BF to death, but he is married, and all I can permit myself are lusting privileges anyhow (thank you, Jimmy Carter).

Watch Castle, Monday nights @ 10pm on ABC!!

Quick update on the spring cleaning/purging: The library is now nearly 100% useable as a quiet area and editing room, and free of most of the cumulative debris. Still need to get the last of the trim up and do some spot mending and painting, but for the most part it's looking good! Also need to get a few more shelves made for the bookshelves - never were enough of those to go around, and every shelf is at maximum capacity now because of the initial shortage.

The living room, however, took a major hit when I began in earnest to clean the library, so I have to make myself divide my time between the two rooms and put away / throw away / give away the things of consequence or no consequence and just get it done!

All the while I think about the sewing I want to do, and the clothes I need to make. Aargh! That just makes it harder. [Sniff] I need a job outside the house.

Oh, and the post production team for All's Faire In Love has been calling quite regularly - it began with a couple of errant calls from Cynthia about names for the credits, and now has blossomed to almost daily calls or emails from LV (Cynthia has gone AWOL and never passed along the info I sent) for a lot of the same info and an additional odd list of names, ie; "Two Lesbians," "Knife sharpening guy," etc. I kid you not. You can't make this stuff up, folks.

Enjoy your time, no matter what you are doing.

Fervently knocking on wood

Making resolutions around the start of a new year is tradition.

I never make resolutions...mostly because I tend to make lists all the time, anyway. Then, those lists either follow me around, live at the bottom of my purse, get tacked to the fridge door, or are set down somewhere - only to be covered with another several documents or forgotten mail, etc. Sometimes inches of other things are piled on top.

I've mentioned before I have a sewing 'room', right (so I know this all sounds familiar to some of you)?

LAW of NATURE: All piles eventually end up in close proximity to the favorite work area.

Now, I go through my stacks to some degree periodically, eliminating paperwork, correctly filing other pieces, or finally reading and discarding - or dealing with - the last of it.

Hey, it may not be your system, but it works for me. :^P

At any rate, I've noticed lately that I've been tending to do more and more of this activity at an increasingly frequent rate over the last few months, so there is less to do each time. This is a good thing...I know. But I have also noticed that in clearing through the piles more frequently, I have also tended to put things - with a greater sense of significance - in some terribly strange out-of-the-way places in order to not misplace them for future need.

This has not been such a helpful thing, and now I am scrambling about, looking for a few key items which have become important for me to put my hands on quickly.

[Insert sounds of exasperation and raspberries here]

And you know how this works, right? You can picure the item in your hands the last time you placed it somewhere. Or, you can clearly remember having found it as you were looking for something else. You can remember with clarity taking the time to think or mutter to yourself: "I need to remember that this [widget] is here when I need it next week (or some such thing)."

Uh-huh.....r-i-i-i-i-i-g-h-t. Me too. That's what I did!

So where is it now?

I am resolving to not clean anything else (except for laundry and dishes), or mistakingly trick myself into believing I am doing something good by sorting and putting away anything which is going to bring on Alzheimer-like behavior in the future.

I know I will find it when I stop looking for it...when I least expect to see it (knock on wood), so I am going to watch a little TV and mentally unwind.

People have asked...

"What is that behind the quilt squares?"

The question is regarding the multi-colored wall behind the partial dog blocks (and behind the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt). If you look at the photos loaded into the February first entry, and click on any of them to enlarge and navigate around in them, you will see that the colors are, in fact, other flatfolds of material. This is what is referred to as a 'quilter's stash'.

Yes, I admit it may look as though I have an eensy problem with self-control...but ain't it purdy? And my diligence and dedication to the craft has helped me find just the right colors for my projects because of my (somewhat OCD-like) zealous habit of purchasing those fabulous fabrics. But hey! Some of those - no! A LOT of those are never going to be printed again, and I have them for when they are needed. So there...nyah!

Thanks to Mark (another RTV 09-07 classmate), I have the perfect way to see and use my calicos (and other sewing needs/tools) - as well as store them! He works at Ikea in Canton, and granted me the honor of sharing a shopper's "meca" discount pass during one of their 'friends-and-family' 3-day ordeals last fall. It was incredible...and as you can see, afforded me a way to bring all of my beautiful material in from exile [storage/damage] in the garage, to where they can be used and enjoyed.

Mark, I hope you can see that your generosity was put to good use.

I also hope to finish installing the wood floor in a corner room of the lower level this week/weekend, so that I can also assemble and use the fabulous wardrobe/closet piece I bought with the same discount pass. A photo will be posted soon, just so you can understand what it is I am talking about.

'til then, hugs all 'round, and happy thoughts to everyone. Here I come, Mr. Sandman.