Oh, and Mabel had her vet appt. yesterday to get spayed. All went well, and she should be coming home to live with me in approximately 10 days. So I really do have to get the house ready for her!

For those of you who didn’t see her picture the first time: (And this is an old picture, too!)

This morning:

Woke up tired. Stumbled downstairs with Chloe doing her best to trip me. Fed her. Got a few moments of peace, so I ate breakfast. Checked on Pooh. No poo. No pee. Cat has an iron bladder or something. Fed him. Washed my hair, got dressed, checked on Pooh again. He had peed on the blanket I left him to sleep on.

Grrrrr.

Moved the blanket. Told him again that if he goes to the bathroom in the litterbox, he can sleep with me again at night. Said that he’d have to go back to Bethel to be an outdoor cat if he can’t go to the bathroom in the litterbox. Stomped downstairs to get the Lysol to spray on the mess.

Wiped up the mess. Chloe’s howling outside the door, because dammit, if there’s a closed door in the house, she wants inside! NOW!

Pooh walks over to the litterbox. Poops in it. I lavish him with praise and give him treats.

Well, we’re half way.

I guess because there was no pee in the litterbox he didn’t connect that he should pee there too? *sigh*

At least we’re halfway.

**********

Seen on a church bulletin board this morning:

Give thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift

Isn’t unspeakable usually used in reference to bad things?

************

Last night, Dad met me at Storage, where we proceeded to fill (but not totally) Mom’s minivan and my car with boxes. Most of the boxes contained items to go into my office/studio, including a goodly portion of my fabric stash. (10 out of 12 boxes, actually.) I still haven’t quite decided how I want everything to be placed in that room, because in truth, I want to see how much stuff I actually have before I start trying to put much of it away. (I have put a little bit in the closet already, but not all that much.)

I haven’t even uncovered all the Story Stuff yet, and the room’s getting pretty full. Of course quite a bit of that is yarn, and once I have a bookcase or something up there, I’ll be able to put that away.

Anyone have suggestions for storing fabric? I really want to get rid of the plastic containers. At the moment, they are mostly sorted by type of fabric and prints/non-prints, but it’s not a good system for finding what I want. Since I’m more of a visual person, I’d like to have the fabric relatively visible, but I’m not sure how feasible that will be.

There are a couple of things I’m actively looking to uncover in Storage. One is my leather hat (it’s my Indiana Jones hat, but not really.) One is my favorite tin whistle that got stuck in a box instead of back in my purse, and one is my dragon plate, which is a very old handpainted plate that hangs on the wall that I’ve had for too many years to count. I am hoping these things will be recovered safely and soon. (I thought I had the box with the dragon plate in it earlier this week, but alas, I was wrong. And I have no earthly idea which box my tin whistle is in, ditto on the hat.

I doubt I will post much this weekend, because I’m going to be at the house most of the time and I haven’t gotten around to hooking up a phone line yet. (I don’t have any time to get on the internet at home anyway at the moment; I’m still cleaning.)

But here’s my list for the weekend (which will be four days!):

1. Find something to put Hildy’s cage on, and bring Hildy.

2. GET ALL GARBAGE OUT OF THE HOUSE

3. Cut up unusable boxes

4. Finish painting utility room if it’s warm enough

5. Clean living room floor, windows, and walls

6. Finish cleaning kitchen. (Floor, walls, windows, door, cabinets, countertops)

7. Bring kitchen table and chairs

8. Start cleaning in dining room (Floor, windows, walls)

9. Prepare china cabinet for painting

10. Get rid of dead bird in fireplace

11. Wash down sticky racks and put them back into place.

12. Finish cleaning bathroom

If there’s time or alternates:

13. Clean upstairs bathroom

14. Paint china cabinet

15. Start sorting stuff in Office/Studio

16. Put away clothes

17. Do laundry

18. Bring rest of hang up clothes

19. Make 3 trips to Storage (weather permitting)

20. Finish cleaning dining room

21. Bring dining room table and chairs?

22. Start cleaning entry room

Yes, my to-do list is a mile long.

Two things this morning:

1. It’s hard to sleep on a twin sized bed with an 11-pound cat at your feet and a purring kitten above your head. (Pooh is, at the moment, shut in Ethan’s empty room because he pooped on the rug this morning and I think he peed on the curtains that are still piled on the dining room floor (we were going to toss them anyway so I’m not that worried about that.) Hopefully he will get the idea that the litterbox is a Good Thing. (I put the poop in the litterbox to help him along.)

2. It’s getting a bit irritating to have to reset my microwave clock every morning when I wake up because the electricity has gone off some time during the night. But then I think about the people in Thailand and all the other tsunami-affected areas and think that it’s silly to be irritated because of such a little thing.

It makes me realize how good I have it. I mean, here I sit, 30 years old, with a good job, a house, a newer car, a new computer, and just about everything I’ve ever wanted. I have the luxury to be able to write when I want (well, not lately, but still), have enough to eat, and wear warm clothes. I am truly blessed.

And yet, I know people who are having trouble making ends meet, whose last car just died, whose job doesn’t pay a living wage, whose children are sick, and I think about every time I’ve thought I had it bad and know I’ve never had it that bad at all.

Back Before (to borrow a word from the Hunt), I did have to save my quarters for gas money. I couldn’t afford things that I wanted to buy, but I had an internet connection and heat and four walls and a roof over my head. I bounced rent checks for lack of money, but the money was there when the check went through again. And I never went to bed hungry. I didn’t have to go get another job and give up writing because of having to make ends meet.

Even with the spectre of my ex-idiot hanging over my head and whether or not he would be in a good mood, sober, or nasty when he got home from work is really only a little bleep on the screen of my life. That was only three years of my life, after all. Not to trivialize abuse, but it’s not the rest of my life, it wasn’t the beginning of my life, and I’ve been alive longer than we were married. If that makes sense.

Sometimes it seems like people take certain bad experiences of their lives and dwell on those experiences for the rest of their lives. Or good experiences, too, for that matter. I’m not saying everyone should forget these things, but learn from them and move on. (Now I sound like Sarah and Michael. This must be a Beth-Hill related post.)

I’ve always been a sort of pessimist, but I realized not long ago that I’m a secret optimist. It’s in my genetic makeup to believe that things will work out in whatever way, whether it be for something I really want to happen or something someone else wants to happen. Life isn’t fair, but the balance of the world has to be kept. And sometimes, it won’t work out the way you want, but it will work out. After all, the house I got wasn’t my Dream House, but it will do just fine.

I am wondering what balance was restored during the tsunami, however. Just looking at the photographs is horrifying. And I want to help out in what way I can, but after the charity misfire, I’m leary to make donations to any charity who will spread my new address around like wildfire. (Anyone know of anonymous donation charities?)

I know one thing that will be on my resolution list for the New Year: a monthly donation to Modest Needs.

I’m hearing reports from my friends about the “Twilight Zone Christmas”, which is horribly appropriate in most cases. Mine was fairly normal, even with the electrical outage, but it didn’t really feel like Christmas at all. And Friday surely doesn’t feel like New Year’s Eve.

 

That means 2005 is right around the corner, so to speak. And I am still lacking in resolutions and an updated goal list. Ack.

 

I could say my excuse is that I’ve been a bit busy lately, but in truth, I could have worked one out by now.

 

My problem is that the fact that I now own a house hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

 

Maybe after Storage is empty and Bekah and Ethan move in and we’re done unpacking and moving, it will sink in. But I think the main problem is that a major goal has been crossed off my list with nothing much to replace it.

 

I’ve never been a very far-reaching person. I like to make goals I think are reachable and ones that are specific enough to be crossed off a list. I’m not after fame or fortune, but I’d like to be financially self-sufficient enough to afford nice things for even nicer prices. (Even if I were rich, I would still shop at Goodwill.)

 

It doesn’t take much to make me happy. I don’t like recognition or acknowledgement, and I’m quite happy to be fairly anonymous. (There’s more freedom in anonymity.)

 

The real reason why I haven’t pursued a ‘professional’ writing career is because I don’t like to be pigeonholed or rushed into choosing something I don’t want to do. At the moment, I can write pretty much what I want, when I want, where I want, how I want, and why I want and still get it published. I’m not beholden to any single publisher. (Except for already-sold series.)

 

I don’t have to jump on the bandwagon-of-the-moment, I can choose to jump on the bandwagon-of-the-moment. (Meaning, I wrote Counting the Stars to see if I could, not because it’s a popular genre.)

 

I don’t really care what other writers think about my publishing choices. They’re my choices, not theirs, and I made them for me and my life, not theirs.

 

That may sound arrogant, but that’s the way it is.

 

I don’t watch TV, so I am spared a lot of drek. I drank tea before it was deemed good for you. I wear secondhand clothing because it’s cheaper than buying it at the stores, and the clothes last just as long.

 

I buy things to last. And I have a problem buying something new when the old item works just fine for what I want to use it for.

 

My job is my job, not my life or my spouse. I work 40 hours a week, every week, and forget it as soon as I go home. It pays the bills. That’s the first important part. It’s only mildly irritating on most days. That’s the second important part.

 

I do not define myself by what I do to make a living, but by what I want to do.

 

I make lists. I make lists because without them, the normal life stuff like buying groceries and paying bills would go right out of my head. I’d exist on cereal if I didn’t want to bother with fixing myself meals. I’d always have more important things on my mind.

 

I like convenience, only in the respect that whatever it is takes less time away from what I really want to be doing.

 

I’d like my books to be the ones you return to like you return to an old sweater full of holes that is still too comfortable to toss.

 

This is me. I’m not fashionable, pretty, or well-versed in recent entertainment events. I could care less if the latest Hollywood heartthrob has to go to rehab. I don’t want care.

 

If you are my friend, you’re an interesting person, but sometimes I forget to answer emails and it isn’t your fault at all.

 

Sometimes I make hasty decisions. Sometimes I let other people make my decisions for me. I know this is a bad idea.

 

This is me. I don’t want to be anything else. I can’t be anything else. Just me.

I’m tired. Not for any really good reason, because I didn’t get a lot done last night at all. But on my way to work this morning I had to fight to stay awake, which isn’t good while driving down the road at 55mph. Especially when there’s still ice on the ground. (It’s a lot better than it was, though.)

 

So I’m sitting here eating a couple of chocolates and drinking hot tea in the hope that the caffeine wakes me up.

 

Pooh did come home with me last night. He spent the first hour or so behind the dryer (which isn’t working for some reason; it might have blown a fuse, but I don’t know) and Chloe hissed at him a couple of times. I had intended to keep him in the entry room/kitchen area until I knew for sure that he was using the litterbox, but I had to keep a door open for Chloe to go back and forth and he spent the night curled up in a basket of yarn.

 

Hopefully I won’t return this evening to discover that they’ve destroyed the house. (Only half kidding, there…)

 

I looked around this morning to see if he’d gone to the bathroom somewhere bad, but I didn’t see or smell anything. And this morning, Chloe had progressed to wanting to play with him and only hissing occasionally, so I think they’ll be okay.

 

I watched another episode of V last night before bed. I really like the portable DVD player. And I’m remembering more and more of it, even though I haven’t seen it for what, 18 years?!

 

I didn’t get the bathroom cleaned last night. I cleaned the sink and one of the medicine cabinets, decided I was too tired to fool with the sweeper, and went to bed. Urgh. Maybe tonight. We’ll see.

Today, my goal at the house is to clean the bathroom. This means new shelf paper in the linen closet, scrubbing all dirty places, and putting stuff away that has been lying around. If I get inspired and have enough time, I will clean the other bathroom as well, but we’ll see.

Zoey and Pooh aren’t at the new house yet. I almost took Pooh with me last night, but I need more cat food and another litterbox. And he was eating, so I decided to wait. Hopefully by the weekend. (I think I’ve decided that he’s coming. Zoey can just deal with it. She has a whole house to sulk in, after all, and she can probably avoid both Pooh and Chloe if she wishes.)

Also, hopefully by the weekend, the rest of my plants and Hildy, who is still in my room. (I’m making sure she has food and water, but her cage is a mess and really needs to be cleaned.) It’s supposed to warm up, so that will be a good incentive to start moving delicate things again.

Well, it’s after Christmas. We all survived. Everyone arrived in time for presents, and I was happy with my gifts.

(This was a DVD year–I got Labryinth, NBC Special Edition, V: The Complete Series, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaben. (sp?) I also got plenty of shower gel and good smelling stuff, a tool set (I asked for one, since I don’t have any tools), and house-related stuff, like a wireless weather thermometer. And flourescent lightbulbs.

(I should mention that my sister Emily gave me V: The Complete Series, and now I have to get the rest of the entire series as well, since this one starts off after some of the good stuff. This was my favorite TV show when I was in middle school. I used to play it on the playground. (I was always Julie or Donovan.)

And I think everyone liked the gifts I gave them, too.

Yesterday, I spent the morning teaching Emily how to knit, which she took to quite well, and then we ventured down the road to Goodwill and to go out to eat.

Today, it’s back to what is considered ‘normal’ hereabouts, and I’m still trying to decide if I want to attempt to venture to Storage after I get off work this afternoon. I think I might, unless the Storage lot is a sheet of ice.

Snowbound Journal, with comments:



Reason #559 that it is good to have a Vibe: When stuck without heat or electricity in the middle of an ice storm, that plug in the dashboard sure comes in handy for turning your car into a generator-on-wheels and allowing you to hook up the boiler and have HEAT!

I woke up at 3:30am on Thursday morning to find that my electricity had gone off. No electricity meant no heat, because the boiler has an electric switch. All night long I listened to the sound of trees cracking and branches sliding to the ground. I didn’t get much sleep Wednesday night.

Snowstorm, Day 1 1/2.



Inch-thick ice on trees. Electric out since 3:30am. Had to make another batch of candy to keep warm. Molasses Cream Candy, hopefully.



Stayed home from work sick on Wednesday, but Thursday was weather-related. Spent entire day trying out different ways to keep warm. Right now, I’m waiting for the last couple of degrees to inch up the thermostat so I can go to bed. I have 3 degrees left. Grrr.



Being snowbound with no heat or electricity is no fun. At least I had the gas stove, but the trees breaking right & left were scary, and I haven’t slept since 3:30am. It’s almost 9pm now.



What a Christmas. Em might not make it down from Columbus, and Jess is snowbound in her apartment. It’s been interesting, that’s for sure.



Today–in the house–I am wearing two pairs of socks, my snowboots, a pair of flannel boxer shorts, corduroys, a silk short-sleeved shirt, and my second-warmest sweater. I actually only started to get really cold when the house dropped down under 50 degrees. Ugh.



Dad did manage to come and hook up my car plug to the boiler, so I had heat by Thursday evening. Which was nice.

Calculation at 2:30am 12/24



House was 65 degrees @ 9:30pm

House is 50 degrees @ 2:30am



5 hours/15 degrees

3 degrees lost per hour.



If I heat the house to 65 again, I will have (technically) 5 hours until it drops back to 50 degrees after the boiler heats the water in the radiators. But during the time the boiler is heating, house will be warming up, so I should have +/- 8 hours of ‘heat’.



There are no books in this house yet, and I’m trying to conserve Dana battery power. So I am being forced to read the “Reader’s Digest Great Chicken Dishes” cookbook, which will probably put me to sleep. (I didn’t get far in my reading.)



Friday–Day 2



Today was actually a bit better, but still no electricity. I slept in, went down to Bethel to deliver water and visit a bit (I’m on city water, so I had cold water just fine) and brought a few books back to read.



I turned on the boiler at 5:10pm. It’s now 7pm and I’ve just sat down to eat supper. (Chicken noodle soup made in one of my Cephalon skillets.) It’s actually working well.



Anyway, we’ve gone up 5 degrees in 2 hours. So since we’re aiming for 65 degrees this time, I’m here and awake for the duration. It is getting warmer in here, though.

Day 3:



Power returned 12/25 at 3:30am, bringing the total outage to 48 hours. Hopefully that is a record and will not be repeated, but there are people still out.



I’m in Bethel now. We’re not opening presents until Emily gets here–Dad left to pick her up at 10am from my house and just got there. I have electricity, my heat is back working properly again, and my pipes didn’t freeze, despite the weather outside getting down to -5.

It was actually too cold in the house to knit that first day.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I know I got my wish.

I’ve had two late nights, and poor Chloe went nuts when I got home last night at 10pm. So tonight will not be a late night, or even a late evening. I’m going straight home from work, and only stopping at Storage to load more boxes and stuff (maybe chairs, they’re getting in the way.)

So…

It’s almost Christmas, and I still have to finish Mom’s hooded scarf. Jess has requested a fairly simple off-white scarf, and I’m going to attempt to get both done before Christmas Day. Or else finish them up the day of, since we’re not opening presents until early afternoon again.

I also have to make Dad’s cookies and Mom’s candy (I’m planning to attempt the candy this evening, since it’s not supposed to snow until later tonight.)

And I now have an oven thermometer, so I can see if the oven temperature is correct. Yay.

Um. Anything else? I wasn’t going to have a Christmas tree this year, but I ended up rescuing a Stone Pine from Target yesterday. It’s not hardy, so I’ll have to repot it asap, but it’s the type of pine you get pine nuts from, so that’s cool.

I miss having an internet connection at home (soon!) but then again, I am getting more done without one.

I have been trying to call Lillian Vernon about my order all day. It’s been busy. High call volume, the live chat person said. I hope that my order wasn’t in the UPS hub that burned last week.

 

I received a letter from GMAC on Friday, saying that they had reported a negative to the credit bureau for a payment due 12/14/04. The letter was dated 12/05/04. The payment came out of my bank account, as it always does, on 12/14/04. I called Friday evening, only to discover that I would have been on hold for more than 30 minutes. Since I was in the process of packing up my car, I decided to call them today.

 

Today, they cannot take my call because they are experiencing high call volume. I can imagine, especially if every GMAC customer got a letter like mine.

 

Is something going on that I should know about other than the UPS fire? Sheesh! I mean, I know it’s Christmas, but still!