he’s home!

this is so nice, i missed him even more than i thought.

they had a great vacation; DiL took about 100 pictures which #1 son put on a CD for me. i got presents; they found a nifty disney pin with mickey mouse and a dragon on it, and hubby bought me a huge plush dragon – very colorful. the grandboy told me about seeing all the aquariums and fish tanks, swimming in the different pools, and all the lights and noises.

it’s their first trip to vegas in 7 years. the place has definitely changed a lot. hubby and i go every year, and there’s usually a lot of changes. somehow, our descriptions jsut didn’t quite prepare them.

we went to lunch at islands, and then back to their house to play on the wii. what a really nice day. perfect ending to the week.

impatient

waiting on pins and needles for the hubby to get home tomorrow (around noon). if i go to sleep early tonight will he get home sooner? i miss him.

the hot glue gun didn’t work. it has a very fine nozzle for detail work, hence it’s just not putting out stickiness fast enough. #2 son got the velcro out of the closet for me, and i’m preparing to reapply new strips to the power strip and the side of the cabinet. silly me – i could use screws – the back of the power strips has cutouts for them… still, climbing under the desk to drill holes for them seems a bit awkward. (what a funny looking word – still, it doesn’t have an spelling underline, so it must be correct)

cleaned out one of the hutch cabinets over the south desk. put the loft back to usefulness. watched man of la mancha (i always cry) and collected the mail. nothing much there, today. that’s good, i didn’t feel like looking at bills. 5 magazines:

National Wildlife: articles that look really interesting–”lessons of the flowers” and “america’s forgotten forest. there’s also an article about paperless bill paying (right up my alley).

Diabetes Forecast: general health and dietary stuff for diabetes control, and news re: diabetes research. there’s an article about bariatric surgery this month.

Bead Style: there’s a cute srticle on making cellphone charms this month, another on using wood beads.

ZooNooz: (from the San Diego Zoo) there’s an artical here about flightless birds, and another on polar bears and climate change.

American Craft: there’s a really good article on modern materials, and another on the crafts scene in Los Angeles.

i’m winding yarn now, and i think i’ll listen to the podcasts i didn’t pay any attention to this afternoon. it’s going to be a late night. #2 son is on his way to visit a friend. it’s going to be a quiet night. even better.

whew!

okay – i’m all the way into the corner of the office. figure that, while i’m here, i should work a little on the shelves – throw away stuff that’s just cluttering up the place, make room for the references i want close to hand… and vacuum before i put anything else here.

found lots more yarn, tons of needles and tools. did NOT find the glue gun i need to use to reattach the power strip at the side of my keyboard tray. poor thing has held up well, but the sticky tape finally just gave up (after about 5 years ). just dangling above the floor right now – no hot glue available; i’d use velcro tape if i could reach it – it’s in the closet on the top shelf.

did i ever mention that even step ladders terrify me? good thing my men are all much taller than i – they’re great for reachies – and don’t mind any chance to call me “midget”. unfortunately, none of them is here right now.

i’ve cornered myself in the office. haha! pulled down a lot of stuff and put it a box to throw it away, but the box is too big for me to move by myself. guess i’m stuck here for about an hour. #2 son is going to laugh at me.

it’s not all “that” bad

okay – so six hours of sleep can make you feel a lot better. when i finally caved in last night, i was really depressed. the task was just waaay overwhelming. i was sure we weren’t even close to an acceptable stage for the installer, and i was too tired to deal with it.

this morning, the “mess” didn’t seem that messy. after a cup of coffee, it actually looked “doable”. the installer is here, he doesn’t seem to mind the state we’re in at all. which means the goal of having the office and loft done by the time hubby gets back is now more realistic. especially as the office really is almost done. it’s even at a “run the vacuum” stage. squee!

i found another stack of magazines – mostly layers, illustrator and knitting. going thru that stack a little more slowly – trimming patterns i really like, and putting them in a notebook. moved a stack of books from in front of the cable control box (maybe the remote will work, now) and there’s actually room to move around in here; sweet! i found a box containing the rolling file folder cart; #2 son will put it together for me this afternoon – that solves a paper sorting issue i’ve been having. getting organized is getting easier by the minute. i still haven’t found those bookends…

going to post this, now…the internet connection is going to be broken pretty soon…

it’s just too much

not able to pull all nighters like i used to do. sigh. too tired to think, let alone move. if i see another box tonight, i think i’ll start to cry. but the office is looking pretty good. south desk is better organized. stack of magazines is gone, as is the spare table. can actually pull the PC out from under the desk without having to move anything out of the way.

good enough for the installer. #2 son is in charge of getting the loft cleared. he says he’s got it under control. going to have to trust him, i haven’t enough energy to argue about it. going to go take another nap (about 4 hrs. this time) and see what else i can do in the morning. nothing major, until the installation is completed, but there’s still a lot i want to do this week while the hubby is out of the way.

it’s time to order a dumpster. and i think i’ll call the used books store (i think they’ll actually come get these). sometimes, you just have to be really ruthless. i said that before, didn’t i? “things” are just not going to control the way i live. if i can’t give it away, or throw it away, i’m far too attached to the wrong things. should be able to walk away without looking back.

mostly, i think i’m capable of that. the things are nice, or pretty – some of them have sentimental qualities…but they’re just things, after all. what really counts is my family and our health. the rest of it is just trimming. it’s a bonus we don’t have to have. so cleaning up all this clutter is just a way of clarifying the best ideals for us. and it feels like i’ve accomplished an incredible amount of that in the past couple days.

a variety of interruptions

had to cancel the direcTV service. easiest way to resolve billing was to pay new bill, and they’ll refund the balance. takes “6 to 8 weeks”, but i’ll get my money back. still have to cancel time warner…who say if i cancel the service, verizon will not be able to transfer the numbers. when we switched from verizon to comcast several years ago, NOT cancelling the service resulted in my being billed for two extra months by verizon (who apparently never got a “cancel” order). i’m not going to be a happy camper if TW messes this up.

but, paying the satellite bill pointed out a mis-communication with the printer. wasn’t sure if it was low on ink, couldn’t get supply levels. restarting the printer got it working, but i needed to order ink. neighbor kid is coming over with a .pdf file he wants printed – maybe i should install the last cartridge?

that’s got the other desk occupied. can’t do what i was going to do next – guess i’m back to packing books… naw – i’ll just have another cuppa java. it can’t take more than a few minutes to print the file. and clearing the other desk is high priority. won’t do to get really involved when i can do what i need to do first.

bookends

i’m missing some bookends. i had three spare sets, and remember handing them to the hubby. i haven’t a clue where he’s put them. he used one set in the kitchen…

as i removed things from the desk, other things tend now to tilt!i hate to put clutter in place of a bookend – seems like a mis-direction…

how easily distracted

especially when i’m tired. waaay too little sleep last night. taking a nap only made me feel a little drowsy. there’s still a huge stack of magazines to throw away (i mean HUUUGE) and the corner’s still overflowing with craft items. must have caffeine!

i just got a call from out of state: hi, i’m dianne. i just calling to see if you need your carpets cleaned, pro…” that’s when i hung up. is there still a working “do-not-call” list out there somewhere?

the corner desktop is done. whew! still have to clear out the cabinets, but i haven’t got enough room to move the boxes away from them, yet. well, i could move that stack into the doorway and clear that cabinet, then move the other stack to fill/clear the corresponding spaces and work on the other cabinet… there’s a plan for ya. and desire to get out of the office will motivate me to keep working; right?

must get back to work. more progress posts, later…

still going strong!

well, i’m about half way ’round the office. busy reorganizing as i go, and packing up books to recycle or move down to the library. this seems like slow progress, but i’m pleased with the results so far.

i’ve found two sweaters to be finished, and the yarn and pattern for the next one, three afghans that also need finishing, and the fabric for two quilts (the sewing machines moved downstairs last week ). i’ve also found quite a few tools for fiber-crafting, some roving and some felting needles. there’s a grand stack of paper and card-stock. and a box of adhesives for any number of applications. i found my missing sketchbook and nu-pastels, too. i’m definitely not lacking for projects to work on this season!

there is now room to set up the tablet PC on the corner desk, and i think i’ll be able to move the printers to better positions in the office. one of them needed to be closer to a phone outlet, and the other needs to be close to the airport express (wireless print-server). i’m afraid to go into the closet just yet – not ready to go thru the “spare parts” box… and where did all these phone cords come from?

i guess the inspiration/inclination had to finally HIT me sometime! it’s great to have motivation.

easter sunday

we planned on going out for breakfast this am; we woke up way too late. kinda. waking up is one of those “process” things. getting in gear, organizing your brain to a “working” mode, morning things.

i check my blood glucose levels, which puts me in front of a ‘puter; and i usually get distracted by e-mails, or tweets, or something new in my podcast folder. by the time i realize there is such a thing as time, i’ve been “up” for a couple hours or so. i usually have to set alarms for things like morning appointments, or breakfast meet-ups, or i’ll miss them entirely.

hubby does all the pet feedings, morning walks, etc. and he checks e-mails from work (even on his days off) and his pager. if he gets sufficiently distracted, he turns on the TV and before he realizes it, he’s involved in a movie. his days off go by very quickly that way.

#2 son has a tendancy to pick up his journal, or a book. he sometimes doesn’t open his door before noon. this leads people to believe he sleeps ’til noon. that’s rare, actually, but does sometimes happen if he’s been gaming all night (WoW, of course).

so we missed going out for breakfast this morning. ah, well. we didn’t need pancakes and all that sort of stuff, anyway. we had a nice morning. the sunday funnies and the ad sections were pretty good. and the techguy chat is starting in a few minutes.

happy easter!