Blessing My Nest

My horoscope yesterday told me to "bless my nest" and "dedicate a room or corner as my office". I'd been planning to do just that, and before I knew it, I was cleaning out my closet as a way of procrastinating on the hard stuff: i.e, moving furniture and cleaning away four years of whatever had been growing/living in the previously inaccessible space.

I'd even made a special trip that morning, before I read the daily prediction, and purchased a desk blotter. It's more of a protector so I can put my computer on the surface of the table in use without scratching it.

Right in the middle of my cleaning and purging efforts, the overhead light died on me. The room I was working in is one of the larger rooms in our modest home and has a high ceiling and only one window which faces north. It was also overcast today, so when the light went out I truly was in the dark. Usually when I'm in the dark it has nothing to do with the ambient light.

I am a "natural" blonde after all.

Lucky for me there are other light sources in the room and I continued until I got tired of trying to figure out what to do with all the crap.

After moving stuff around, I realized that the original layout would work the best if the table was just pulled away from the tight little corner.

Now if only my husband would move out his crap, we'd have a nice serene space that might be conducive to some creativity.

I can dream can't I?

I Hate To Shop

When I have to.

I'm not much of a shopper, but it's okay when I'm just browsing and don't actually need to buy anything. I'm an impulse shopper. I buy what I like when I see it, but I wasn't necessarily looking for it. Not that I buy everything I see that I like. I have learned to appraise an object with deliberate consideration and try to determine if it's really necessary to my life.

Usually the answer is no.

But a few days ago I wandered into a consignment shop with my Mom just for the hell of it. We had just eaten too much for lunch and needed to walk some of it off. So we waddled ourselves all the way next door to browse. Y'know, for fun.

We saw some lovely things. I collect cobalt glass and my Mom wanted to buy a set of glasses for me, but since I have no room for them, I declined (see? aren't I good?)

And then I took a little detour and saw this:

I loved it and decided that this mirror I had to have.

So I took some pictures of it to show my husband so he couldn't complain about it if I just brought it home without a consultation.

He liked it! He rarely likes anything I like. So I called the shop and asked them to hold it for me.

It is now hanging in my entryway. And it looks cool, but I have to get used to it because a non-reflective picture was there before and now I have to look at myself everytime I walk by and I'm wondering if this was really such a good idea. Kind of like how I felt after I saw the blue paint on the walls in the bathroom.

OY.

The decisions we have to live with.

That'll teach me to carefully consider my impulse buys.

Pollen Green Day

I can't get over how green it is outside. Most of the trees have sprung their leaves and they're all the bright green of new leaf life. Add to that the vibrant blue of the sky and it's blinding out there in its brightness.

I am eternally grateful to the gods of nasal passages that I do not have allergies related to nature's coming out party. Although I suppose the requisite drugs might make it enjoyable, I don't think it's worth it.

Case in point, last night my son had his first evening of "track camp". He was outside after an early dinner, running the 100, throwing the discus, and tackling the long jump. This revelry lasted about an hour and a half. Later, after a snack, shower, and some reading, while trying to sleep, he started coughing this awful, barking, full body cough that sounded as though all of his insides were being expelled.

Needless to say (or is it?) that none of us got any sleep last night. He couldn't get comfortable in his bed so he slept in ours for awhile. Then back to his. Then back to ours. The night dragged on and the cough kept us all awake.

It was so bad that he stayed home from school today and is currently napping. Something I should be doing as well. But alas, I have forgotten laundry that needs attention. As well as general cleaning because I have company coming tomorrow.

I have to make an effort to clean out all of the spiders who have moved in to the various corners and window sills of the house. They're everywhere, dropping on you without a word of warning.

I think it's too green for them outside too. Unless they just feel like they're less of target for all of the hungry birds out there. We have a veritable food chain around here.

What's for dinner, Mom?

Rotisseri chimpmunk. YUM!

(Oh, please. You don't think I skewer tiny rodents and cook them on a rotisseri, do you?)

Yes, I know this is a cardinal and not a chipmunk. I may be blonde, but I'm not an idiot.

Most of the time.

Painting

I have a bathroom that's keeping me up at night because it's still waiting to be painted. Since we moved in waiting to be painted. Since we moved in three plus years ago waiting to be painted.

You catch my drift?

It had this hideous vinyl wallpaper that I scraped off nearly four years ago. Underneath was/is a dark lavender splotched up with plaster where bits of the wall came away with the wallpaper. It's lovely if you like that kind of deconstructionist abstract vibe.

I don't.

And I'm tired of being embarrased by it. And kept awake by it. And losing sleep because of it.

The things that we give power to in our lives, eh?

So last night, while laying there, with my eyes closed, listening to the fabric of time and space being opened and closed, I decided to get the job done. I also figured that if I made the decision, I'd finally fall asleep.

Eventually, I did.

And waking up this morning was painful.

However, I went to the paint store, picked out some (more) color chips, and walked away with a gallon of primer. I (wisely, according to me) decided to not commit to a color until the room is primed and therefore a blank canvas for the plethora of blue paint chips.

Perhaps tomorrow I will start with the priming. I have all of the brushes and rollers and stuff. With my Mom's help I painted nearly the entire house before we moved in. That includes a coat of primer and two coats of paint on every ceiling surface in the house. Except, of course, the upstairs hallway. The part over the stairs. The steep, steep stairs.

We'll see if I get started tomorrow. Or if the can-o-primer spends the next three months on the floor in the kitchen.
I'll keep you posted.

Breakdown and Repair

Supposedly, when Mercury is in retrograde, things go wrong - I'm assuming this means more than one might usually expect. They break, they stop working, they leak, whatever. My vacuum cleaner was the first to go. But Mercury is no longer retrograde and things are still breaking.


What's up with that?

Yesterday, my entire morning was sidetracked by water in the basement. Mostly on the floor, but there was some on top of the washer and other surfaces.

Curious.

Boxes were wet, the rug was wet, the smell is not a smell of choice. But the big mystery here is: where did the water come from?

We know where it went. And, frankly, serves us right if stuff gets ruined because we still haven't gotten around to unpacking the rest of our crap from moving three and a half years ago.

The heating guy was here yesterday. Said it wasn't the heating system. The plumber is here now. We booked him earlier this week for the toilet that stopped working in December. I should clarify - we shut off the water because it was leaking and the floor was wet.

A link, perhaps?

Curiouser and curiouser.

And now I'm about to head out and make a stop at the repair center to drop off the vacuum. Hopefully, it's a cheap fix. The unit is less than four years old and I'm counting on it lasting as long as the last one did. Which had to be upward of 20 years, but I don't know for sure. I got it from a little old lady. And I had it for 12 years.

I'm afraid to ask "what next" because I really don't want to know. The septic is waiting for us to do something about it. It could get ugly.

Stay tuned.

Home Alone

It's one of those rare days when I have the place to myself. As tempting as it is to get comfortable with my cup of coffee and watch Biography all morning while noshing on chocolate covered espresso beans, I am, instead, the model of efficiency.

I've done the dishes, showered, gotten the first load of laundry in, checked my email and gone looking for a new career. Oh, and gotten the offspring up and off to school with time to spare. All before 10:00am.

I'll probably crash soon. I had the chocolate covered espresso beans for breakfast.