Her new CD's on sale tomorrow !

Current Notes : I think I finally got that blouse the way I want ! 

Whoo-hoo ! Cooler weather is on the way ! Last night is the first night since we moved that we didn’t have the air conditioner on. We’re only up to the mid to higher 80s in the forecast this week, and I’m thrilled. So’s Dearest Son. He loves having his own room again !

More cleaning work – the kitchen’s nearly done. All the left-behind bits and pieces are either stored or trashed. Found the bottom bin to the fridge’s freezer, and got that cleaned and put back into service. We also did hours of dishes, including some pots and pans so thick with grease, I’m amazed they didn’t ignite on the burners. A few we couldn’t reclaim, so they got tossed, too. I know I may not get our pots and pans perfectly clean every time, but…(shudder). At least they’re clean now. DFIL has arthritis, so I’m sure it was probably hard  and it hurt to keep them as clean as he did ! Beloved Hubby’s already looking to paint the cabinets and walls, which I will just love.

I got the last of the hallway shelf/drawer cabinet cleaned. Stored the drawer of papers in a box with the rest of the stored stuff, cleaned it out, gave the outside another quick wipe down. The towels now have a place, and there’s two empty drawers for Beloved to claim whenever he needs them. He upgraded his three-hole-puncher, so I claimed his old one and cleaned the new one. The rusty one that didn’t move from the drawers got tossed.

We went out just for a soda, but finally got the fabric and some bits and pieces donated. Glad to have that box out from underfoot ! Everyone was pretty tired after lunch, so while they napped, I sewed ! But first, I gave KJ a good cleaning and oiling. Why do I always forget how much better and quieter he sews when he’s maintained ? I’m starting to write a reminder every month on my MH calendar to do that.

Stitching up today’s blouse was a breeze and a pleasure. Like the previous attempt at lengthening, I could only take it about a quarter-inch further before serious alterations to accommodate those hips would have to be made. Maybe later. For now, the blouse mostly covers the dolls’ bellies, so I’m happy. Catty posed so nicely in DMIL’s rosebushes !

Head Case.

Current Notes : There's actually a square case out there, too. It holds 12 dolls, and features the current 'Four Faces' graphic ! 

Quiet cleaning day at Chez Insanity today. Beloved Hubby, Dearest Son, and I tackled various aspects of the kitchen, including a clutter cluster that had sprung up by the doorway, the overrun-by-spoons silverware tray, and some display shelves that needed to be cleaned and emptied. DMIL cleared everything she wanted from the shelves before we arrived, leaving the rest for me. Some of it I liked – a single small Mikasa candlestick, another crystal candy dish, a little glass Christmas tree (you’ll see it in doll photos soon enough !), and a thermometer – but the rest was odd stuff like power cords with no indication what they went to, resin shepherds, porcelain cats with broken tails, old car insurance bills (they haven’t had a car in years), and ancient fish food. I claimed the few bits I wanted and trashed the rest, and set to cleaning. I also cleaned and scraped two cabinet drawers so Beloved could put a sealing finish on them – much better !

We didn’t quite finish the kitchen, as it’s gonna be a continuing, long, tiring effort, and four hours of the morning was enough for one small area. I also tackled some drawers in the hallway, getting those cleaned inside and out. One already has some of my sewing supplies in it, another is still filled with various DMIL papers, but the other two are now clean and ready to use. I think I’ll use one for bath towels.

After that, I straightened out the freezer. I still need to clean it, but I hadn’t organized it at all – Beloved loaded our frozen foods in there from the apartment and from our Aldi’s run, I hadn’t touched it. And I couldn’t find anything. So now that’s done. We had two more pounds of hamburger than I thought !

Then I had an idea about how to fix my curbside-shopped chair. One of the caster-style wheels keeps falling apart. It has five, so it’ll keep rolling, but I can tell it’s off. Since there’s really nothing holding that one wheel on when the opposite ‘cap’ wheel comes off, I figured I could wind a clear elastic from Catty Noir’s packaging around the axel. Maybe that’ll hold it when the cap falls off again. So far, so good !

Made a quick run to Mal-Wart for Dearest’s new bed – he just loves the air beds, I just wish they lasted longer. I got the navy and medium blue threads I’ve been needing. That store’s got jack for fat quarters, and the display and remnants bin are always in such a mess. Riddle me this – why is a fat quarter Got to see the MH doll case, too. I like it, but I’m not sure if I want it or not. I mean, do I want it to store dolls, or to add to the doll case collection ? Both !  

Decisions, decisions… I’m just glad Dearest will sleep well tonight ! 

Lovely day !

Current Notes : I love that song !

Some days are just nice. Woke late to a thunderous rainstorm that left everything bright, sunny, and cool, after encouraging most of us to linger in bed longer, start the day later. Ginger-kitty came in soaked, paw-spotted my shirt in a ‘dry me off’ cuddle before sprinting for her chow. Beloved Hubby had some errands to run, though, so he was up and at ‘em before I could translate the sounds he made into words. I was sleeping *hard* !

But eventually even I had to give up my slug-a-bed ways, and face the day. Beloved found two trash bags crammed full of miscellany from the end of the move, and lucky me, it was mostly laundry. Ah, well, it was a good day to do it. By the time he was back, I had one load completely done and half put away, the second in the dryer. I was wondering where some of those blouses had gone ! Still missing a nightgown, though. 

It’s been a really nice day. Dearest Son opted to have lunch – pizza rolls – with his grandparents instead of going out with us, so I had Beloved all to m’self for a while. We opted to visit a slightly more upscale local place (well, more upscale by a degree or two than McDs !) that Dearest doesn’t much care for, and had a grand, wonderful long late lunch. I had good news in the mail to share, a troublesome financial issue had been adjucated in my favor, so we discussed our next house project a bit, talked about what we’d like to do in various rooms, and sort of verbally daydreamed a bit together.

Once home, stuffed full of quality proteins, my Beloved was too tired to stand upright, so I put him down amid dryer-warm laundry for a nap. I dozed a bit on the sofa while Dearest finished watching Wall-e with DM & DFIL, and just enjoyed the sounds of a lazy Saturday neighborhood afternoon. It was bright from the sun reflecting in hundreds of clear puddles, and the sky was as blue as Ghoulia’s hair. Lovely day. 

Friday Night Fever !

Current Notes : This is the *exact* set I have. I couldn't get a decent photo of it, though ! 

Seriously. I actually turned on the disco ball and spotlight tonight. I had it hung up for a year at the apartment and didn’t turn it on once, but it looked so beautiful here. Beloved Hubby had wondered how we’d let trick-or-treaters know we had candy for them, since there’s no porch light – I told him we should set up the disco ball on a shepherd’s hook in the flower patch, run the spotlight with extensions, and maybe that would work. If nothing else, we’ll at least get the dance crowd ! I don’t have an orange lens, but I can probably work up a festive gel from somewhere…stock up on some inexpensive candles…

(grin) Already working on Halloween in my mind, although once again, I’ve yet to even start my doll costume plans. Maybe this week, I can at least toss together a prototype or something. Dearest Son says he’s more interested in buying six bags of candy and handing out three. He’ll try to make the remaining three last ‘til November. When I pointed out that November would be the next day, he amended it to ‘November 12^th’, randomly. 

What a difference a day makes !

Current Notes : Say what you will, MH clothes let you use up the tiniest scraps ! 

Especially when you gain some experience the day prior ! I dug out the jeans pattern I prefer – Tarja’s, a mere $2. download for best-fitting jeans/pants and seven other patterns, here – and reworked the bodice/blouse pattern from NG Creations’ first pattern set again. I added a bit more so I could do the back closure the way I like, nibbled about 1/32 off the sleeve length (an accident, but it works !), and defined the v-neckline a bit more. Much better ! Next attempt, maybe tomorrow, I’m gonna add some length to it, and we’ll call it a day for that pattern. I don’t know why I always alter the patterns I paid for – I’m starting to think there’s not a bodice on this planet I can’t make into a blouse, at least in doll scale ! – but it’s certainly fun !

Dearest Son and I got to go to the semi-monthly Games Day sponsored by our local homeschool association, and we got to play with S. and her two kids, long-term friends of ours. It was great to see them again. And just play. We even got to eat out at McD’s tonight, always a treat when you’re not doing it every week.

BlueberryGirl on Flickr posted an illustrated image from a Spanish version of an upcoming MH  magazine showing Slow-Moe with Ghoulia, Venus, and Frankie, in a sort of ‘school spirit’ sort of setting. I love it. Since Moe is shown in the same outfit he was revealed wearing at SDCC a couple months back, that’s probably his issue-wear when he’s released. I can’t wait ! He and Clawdia are the only two I want for the rest of the year, possibly ever. I mean, those bleachers are full now…

I finally get to sew...but..it didn't go well.

Current Notes : Some truly bad doll sewing ! 

Not sure if it was Beloved Hubby’s early morning coffee – he makes a good strong pot of the stuff ! – or now that I have limits to my time, I can’t waste it, or I was simply ready… whichever it was, I finally sewed today ! And it is absolutely horrible at how out of practice I am. A simple hemmed neckline that I breezed through a few weeks ago was a fight and a struggle and I had to tear my stitches out so many times, the fabric was weakened. And it was thin stuff to begin with ! Nearly every stitch I made was awful, and nothing really fits *right*, ya know ? Of course, it’s been nearly a month since I had the chance to sew, so it stands to reason that I’m off-kilter, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad !

I really should have started with something I’d sewn before. But I had these never-used NG Creations ones, and heavens know I’ve used enough of hers in the past ! But I know that Tarja’s pants pattern is better, and that NG’s has the same crotch issues my trial patterns had, but I somehow always forget that when I go dig for a pattern to stitch up. Ah, well.

Shirt’s the worst, the neckline was redone so many times, it looks like she’s wearing a rope necklace over the v-neck. I also didn’t get the sleeves parallel – one is straight, the other sort of curves downward – and it’s tighter than it should be. The pants have the all-too-common crotch sag, they’re a bit too long, and they simply don’t accommodate Catty’s tail, no matter which way I tried to fit them together.

But that was my silver lining of the day. Since the jeans were too thick to allow her to use her issue stand, I got a regular MH waist-cinch for today’s photo shoot. I’d intended to poke her tail in the top of the jeans, but I wasn’t quite paying attention and instead, her tail went into the center hole in the ‘grabber’ piece of the stand… and it fit ! I tried fitting her tail in from the underside of the bracket, and it held that way, too. Wow ! It works so well, now I’m wondering if it’s supposed to do that, and if everyone else knows it but me ! 

Well, I'm trying to get back 'into' sewing...

Current Notes : Fancy !

The spirit of sewing was simply not in me today. And since Dearest Son’s home-school lessons started back up this week, between that, settling in unboxing and cleaning, and the usual dishes and laundry, I haven’t had time anyway. I’m also limiting m’self to one 12oz can of soda a day – when we have it – and I can’t remember the last Big Gulp I had. I’ve gotten so I prefer water, especially with meals. Every so often, though, I really want something with taste, so I either make Kool-Ade or hunt in the fridge for juice. I tend to save that for Beloved Hubby, but sometimes, I steal a sip or two.

It’s been cool this week, enough to turn off the air conditioning to the bedroom during the day. I’m wishing it’d stay this way, but I already know the forecast is for low 90s after Wednesday. Weekend rain will bring the temps back down again, and the whole thing’ll start all over again. Not that I’m complaining. I don’t wanna invite worse weather - like tornadoes ! - ‘for a change’.

I did get some small bit of sewing in, though – check out my ‘new’ lamp ! This was the lamp I got for a buck at GoodWill, that was clamped to the mini-blinds in the living room at the apartment. I could never get it angled right to provide the light I needed. Now, it’s right where I want it…and I can see how badly stained it is. I’ve done darn near everything to scrub those weird stains off, but they were there before I bought it, and will be there long after, I’m sure. Still, they bugged me, and I doubted I could spray-paint it well enough to improve it and still have it work. So I cut two lengths of trim (from a long-ago Hobby Lobby visit) and sewed them around the lamp. Easy to remove, not blocking any vents, and it covers most of the stain. It’ll do, and it only took five minutes.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll have some more time for ‘me’ stuff…

Keep me away from the scissors !

Current Notes : And I thought I needed sunglasses to shop the Pink Aisle of ten years ago...

‘Catty Noir comes with all you see here’ – imagine it chirped in a cute kids’ voice, because that’s all that’s in Catty’s box. Well, there’s also the ‘the hands come off’ leaflet, but that’s it. This is my first experience with one of the MH ‘deluxe’ dolls, and it’s pretty nice, but I’d rather pay $15. for a bit less. I can’t be the only one who’s having to restrain him/herself from taking scissors to their new Catty Noir’s issue dress. Normally I like the ‘short in front, long in back’ asymmetrical look, but this dress is one hot mess ! Beautifully made, though, and well detailed. I didn’t see the left shoulder strap until I had her deboxed, it blends with her skin tone so well. I’d adore that dress in silver with black or almost any other color but highlighter dayglo pink.

She also comes with the upgraded ‘crotch’ stand, and it works better than I’d been led to believe – supposedly the same stand came with the Scary Tales series, and most didn’t let the doll’s feet touch the stand, so they always wobbled and fell off. Catty’s steady as a rock on hers, it’s been hours since I took the photo, and she’s still in the same position.

Her microphone is the best doll mike I’ve ever been lucky enough to own. I also want to spray paint it black. Instead of ring holes or clumsy all-hand grips that slide right back off  the dolls’ fingers, this has a sort of prong that fits between her fingers, almost like a bright pink set of brass knuckles. Because her right hand is a sort of soft ‘claw’ one, you can actually position the prong where you want it, so the mike is higher or lower in her hand. Her left hand is in a spread open but not so claw shape. I like it.

Not much on the boots. They’re going in the ‘sell’ doll case. I really need to get all that stuff posted on eBay or something. Can’t wait to redress her in something new tomorrow ! 

Mattel must see me coming, wallet in hand...

Current Notes : Ok, so I caved... but no more dolls 'til Slow Moe ! 

Whoo ! Busy day – can’t remember half of what I did, but I stayed on the go ! Although I was happy to change clothes when Beloved Hubby came home and said we had some shopping to do.

We hit Dollar Tree first, but I didn’t find anything I needed. We got some snacks and some around-the-house needs, and some books for Dearest Son’s growing education shelf. Then we hit Mal-Wart, for the new shoes Dearest needs, and some general window-shopping. And, as you can see, I ended up with this strange black and pink cat-doll. She had four sisters, two of which had open boxes, but I didn’t notice anything missing. But this one jumped into the cart, and refused to leave, reminding Beloved that she was still $30. at TRU and on eBay nude, so $22.95 was a steal ! And she couldn’t wait to be redressed – this big pink thing she got issued could go away. She’d love a nice t-shirt and a pair of shorts… and some sneakers, please !

There’s a Shoedazzle.com ad on now – during My Little Pony on the Hub channel, of all things – which shows about 60% of the footwear styles worn by various MH ghouls. Go figure, these dolls are ahead of the curve… and I still think exercise sandals and ballet flats are awesome. 

Movin' on up !

Current Notes : The new and improved MH class assembly ! 

My backache was joined by a bellyache late last night, and I’m not worth much today. Beloved Hubby, on the other hand, took Dearest Son to work with him, and they came home with a new-to-us ceiling fan and a shelf with brackets – for me ! He hung the shelf up about five minutes after walking in the door, then did some work on the backyard. I was so delighted with my new shelf that, after getting all the dolls repositioned (Heath had to be moved from beside Abbey – he kept falling off his seat or into her lap !), I went out to help. Raked leaves, swept the porch, carried trash to the pile, held things while he did the hard work. Not much, but it was nice to feel useful.

We then cut a stray piece of lumber to support the new ceiling fan, and I again held stuff while he did the difficult parts. The circuit the old fan was on is constantly ‘hot’, for some reason, there’s no switch to it, so he had to kill power to most of the house to get that done. There are times that little battery-powered OttLite I bought for photos (and never used, it’s too harsh for them) comes in handy. I held it all over for him to see what he was doing.

I kinda felt bad that I had most of a day to m’self and I didn’t sew – mostly lazed around and read, to tell the truth – but now I have most of an Arena table back, so there’s a lot more space to sew in ! I’m kind of glad I waited, and hope I’ll have time Monday. It’ll take me that long to get everything re-situated, and I already know Sunday’s gonna be kinda busy. I’m hoping to sleep in a bit ! 

So nearly moved in !

Current Notes : Bookcase, doll case, same thing ! 

I nearly have all ‘my’ stuff set up to order again ! Finally got Elphie and the sixth-scale dolls in order and seated in the bookcase – they’ve been stacked up like cordwood around props since Monday. And I still really haven’t spent much time online. Been too busy !

The doll cases are finally hung up, too. They’ve come a long way with me since the days when they were just décor in the Lab. In the apartment, they were also hung up, but low, so they ended up working for a living ! We needed every inch of space we could score (and every dollar we didn’t spend on plastic storage boxes), so I used the empty ‘display’ cases to hold props nearby, but close and out of the way. Then, when I needed new storage for doll clothes, I put three other cases on the job, storing them in my closet. Now I have them all hung up, and the ones that store stuff are easily in reach. Even the two that are playsets inside – one’s a bedroom, the other’s a ballet café – are easy to get to. Only two cases are just ‘décor’ these days, so they went up high. What’s sad is, I left space for more !

I also hooked up the TV, Wii, and DVD player in our bedroom. I probably should have attached them to DM & DFIL’s big TV in the living room, but I kinda wanted a place where we could just be us three, watching a movie together. Plus, I already know I don’t like to do Wii Fit  where anyone can see me – I want to be behind a closed door for that ! Main reason I kinda quit doing it was that there really wasn’t a private space for it. Now that there is again, I intend to jump back in.

Once my back quits singing. Yeah, I wrenched it again, moving stuff. It’ll be fine tomorrow, just occasionally hurts now. Gonna rest a bit, watch a silly movie while Dearest Son visits with his grandparents. One thing’s for sure, all this labor and work has put me to bed pretty easily lately ! These days, I only wake up in the middle of the night if I took some of my medicines late !

(grin) Sewed a custom made-to-order elastic band for Beloved Hubby’s car papers. At least now, I won’t have gone all the way through National Sewing Month without sewing a stitch ! 

Clarice's Starry Night !

Current Notes : So pretty fabric...

It also occurred to me that ya’ll never saw the sample of ‘performance knit’ fabric Spoonflower sent me, and since Clarice was still hangin’ around, she graciously agreed to model it – ‘cause a doll with fabric draped around her is a much more interesting photo subject than just a hank of material tossed over a sewing machine. Although that’s never stopped me from posting photos of fabric before… Anyway, isn’t it gorgeous ? I’m considering making a simple toga dress out of it, so I can use every centimeter !

It’s been a good day. I got a new-to-me chair ! The ‘lift’ cylinder is shot, but it’s otherwise very nice – black vinyl, no splits or rubbed-thin spots, rolls like a great pair of skates, and has a nice rocking motion. Hooray for curbside shopping !  And another yaaay, the City finally picked up the big trash dump from the front yard. We were ‘scheduled’ for Monday, but I guess that really means ‘sometime that week, possibly on Monday’. 

Photo backup - catch up in progress !

Current Notes : I've gotten out of the photo habit !

It hit me when I was unpacking my MH crew, and setting the seated-on-bottom-rows dolls for then tenth or twelfth time that day (Ginger-kitty and I are setting up boundaries and who’s in charge of what guidelines) – I never showed ya’ll how gorgeous my slightly modified Clarice (a signature Ghoulia with a haircut) looks in the Ghouls Night Out dress I bought shortly before the move. So, there she is ! I may just leave that dress alone…

Speaking of the GNO line… I may have come to my usual non-decision about a new doll – in this instance, Catty Noir – because it seems like most potential buyers are a lot like me. They just want the doll, not the pink thundercloud of a dress. Possibly the lightning boots, but not the dress. Plus her ‘Hannah Meowntana’ backstory just does not intrigue. You can find the dress on eBay for under five bucks, but a nude Noir is still hovering at or near full-box retail. I’ve still not seen one on store shelves, mostly because I’ve only been to home-repair warehouses and grocery stores for the past month, but I’ll probably decide then.

A factor for me that may not be much for many other fans is, between packing and unpacking all I already own – not to mention all their stuff ! – I already feel like I have plenty. So today, I focused on unpacking and arranging the rest of the dolls, and plotting out how to hang the doll cases this time. We found some that I haven’t seen since my ‘Lab’ days, so I not only need to figure out how I want them arranged, but in what order. It was easier to ‘scatter’ them when they were all seven inches from the ceiling ! 

We're back !

Current Notes : Image should get bigger if ya click on it ! 

Another fun day of settling in. At least it’s cooling down somewhat ! I’ve spent less than two hours online, and even less than that if you take away the time had to spend with Windows updates and redoing from scratch the TV listings website with DM & DFIL’s satellite cable. Sure, you get thousands of channels, but half of them are shopping or paid ad channels, and by the time you eliminate the duplicates, sports channels, and  others you’re just not interested in, it’s about as much as yer average cable offering. It’s great if you’re into sports, though.

Sad news, though – my loyal chair has kicked the bucket. Hard to believe that I only got about ten years of service out of a used chair I picked up for $15. out of a field. It wobbled and creaked, and started to tilt this morning, so I added it to the not-yet-picked-up big trash pile. I’m making do with a kitchen chair for now, but maybe I can pick out a new or newer chair at month’s end. Due to how my new Arena is arrayed, I really need a rolling chair now. Wish I knew when the chair-fields bloom…

Moved some more stuff in, out, and around, emptied six more boxes. Beloved got off early and worked on his Study while I knocked out two loads of laundry, washed, dried, and put away. DMIL gifted me a beautiful cut crystal candy jar that I love but wasn’t sure where to put, but we picked up a pound of salt water taffy and now it’s glittering and glimmering on top of an old speaker that’s doubling as an end table for a lamp, proud to be working again.

So much still to do – but I hope to be sewing again this weekend. After all, I found most of my equipment already ! 

Pictures begin again tomorrow ! Wheeee !!

Whoo-hoo ! Internet again ! Our installer was on the spot this morning, and he didn’t leave until every computer in the house had access. Wow. Too bad I didn’t have much time to enjoy it. I was already in the middle of the day’s project – moving a bookcase from Beloved Hubby’s scattered Study to the living room, and loading it back up with Timey Tell, Elphie, all the Barbies, Little Princess Dorrie and Prince Beloved, and more books of fairy tales than several local libraries.

That emptied enough boxes to clear the master bedroom closet, so I moved various fixtures of doll stuff – big plastic box o’ props, the MH tote and wardrobe bag, the Barbie clothes box, several doll cases I use for other doll stuff storage, those kinda things – into the floor of the closet, and I only took up about a foot more than half ! With that done, I was able to round up all the clothes and hang them up, and free up some walking space in there. Much better. Now it looks like humans live here !

Turns out , there’s a bonus closet I never knew about before, even when we lived here last year. It’s an odd one, almost like what you’d find under stairs, but this is a one-story house. In any case, Dearest Son and I cleaned it out and offered it to Beloved Hubby for tool storage, but he said he didn’t need it. Dearest said he didn’t either, so now it holds memorabilia, Christmas decorations, and other stuff I don’t  quite know what to do with. I’d stuff it with doll stuff, since it takes over a bit more of the closet than my ‘share’, but Beloved’s OK with that, and has a small closet in his study for his own storage use. Lucky !

And tomorrow, I get to play online for the first time in a week ! Too bad the installer guy had me clear my cache, so I’ll spend a good chunk of it trying to remember web sites and passwords ! 

Moving damages...

Beloved Hubby put all of us to shame today. He was home, and we have a Big Trash Pick Up Day scheduled for Monday, and while most of us believed the pile was big enough already, he went after all the half-finished projects and various ‘intend to’ abandonments, and it’s now huge. All the old furniture is out there, the non-functioning double stoves, the old cooktop and vent hood, tons of stuff from the storage barn that DMIL and DFIL had already cleared out. I helped some, but it was barely a raindrop in the ocean compared to him !

We also have a new-to-us vehicle, and said goodbye and farewell to Venus-diesel. We’re now tooling around in a Toyota 4-Runner that, to me, is darn near perfect for us. Four doors, not quite so tall, a full-size backseat, moonroof, excellent stereo with a CD player, a back big enough for a whole load of groceries with a sliding top and a kind of ‘container’ custom-shaped to the carpet back there that helps keep stuff from tumbling over, with a hatchback and electronic everything. Air conditioning needs charging, but just having the windows open was nice and cool this afternoon ! So far, unless something else springs up, her name is ‘Angel’.

Some bad news, though. Ginger is still rampaging through everything, and she doesn’t care what gets knocked over in her wake. I may have to line the Arena desktops with aluminum foil, she’s so determined to squeeze into any inch of space that might fit her lately. She’s already knocked over and broken her food dish, my OttLite lightbulb, and a coffee mug – yesterday she sent Nightmare, Headmistress Bloodgood’s horse, tumbling to the floor, and I just noticed there’s a big crack in his nose. (sigh) If I could, I’d take it out of her allowance, but one of the things about being a cat is that you don’t really own anything of real value to anyone else but another cat, and 99% of that is cat chow.

Braaaain freeze ! Not as funny as previously believed....

Happy, cooler day ! It was so nice today, we started in on the brush pile in the backyard, stacking it in the front for Monday’s big pick-up. DMIL & DFIL also cleaned out a lot of the storage shed while I got a couple boxes unpacked. There’s that much less Beloved Hubby has to help with while he’s home tomorrow !

He worked today, but was home early, long enough to get a nap and swap vehicles with our neighbor – they now have Venus-diesel, we now have their Toyota 4-Runner ! It’s nice ! Four doors, good (if worn) seats, windows and moon-roof all work, even the ‘grocery deck’ cover and back sliding glass work. She’s white with tan appointments, and while her antenna is missing, the radio works beautifully, as does her CD player. So far, Beloved has called her ‘Angel’, and that works !

I’ve learned the hard way, once again, not to buy a Slushie/ Icee / Slurpee –type drink when you’re thirsty, no matter how cool and delicious it looks ! First I took a big pull to get the lid on without overflowing it… and got ‘brain freeze’ so bad, I couldn’t see for fifteen seconds and had to wipe my streaming eyes. Later, when it was mostly melted, I took a sip, and darn near choked on it. Beloved had to pound on me a bit to get me to breathe again. And to think, I bought the thing to avoid caffeine ! Next time, I’m getting a regular fountain Dr. Pepper, ‘cause at least being up all night isn’t gonna kill me !

Ginger-kitty’s driving me nutz. She’s everywhere all at once, and her little paws can’t touch the floor, no sir. I’m gonna hafta string barbed wire around the Arena to keep her from jumping on and off and in my face suddenly outta nowhere. Today, I hung up the disco ball in the living room, and just to insure I actually use it, placed the spotlight to it on top of the tower of fabric-filled milk crates. Eventually, I’ll find the colored filters, they’re safely hiding somewhere right now. But that couldn’t stand, nuh-uh, not in Ginger’s world, and she knocked the spotlight down… right on to my OttLite ‘Tulip’ lamp, shattering the $13. bulb. Arrrgh ! I hardly ever used it, too. Wonder if I can use a cheaper bulb instead, ‘cause getting Beloved to Hancock Fabrics or JoAnn’s Crafts any time soon just ain’t gonna happen. There aren’t any in our new City. The spotlight, btw, is now anchored to the top milk crate by two zip ties  – one through a nail-hole factory-installed in the adjustable spot’s ‘arm’, one through the hole of the knot I yanked in the cord. Darn cat.

Oh, and my Spoonflower order arrived. I just wish their Performance Knit wasn’t so expensive, ‘cause it’s amazing ! Know how some knits lose their color or pattern when they’re stretched ? Not this stuff. It has a great stretch and instant recovery, with no distortions or ‘waves’ in it after it recovers. Visually, ya can’t even tell its being stretched. It must be the fabric Olympians wear !

Hate to miss Friday the 13th this year, but...

I am sooo looking forward to Monday. Beloved Hubby snickered at the thought of me going online-free for a week, and yeah, it isn’t easy, but I haven’t been online at all since Sunday. The Wi-Fi at my Tuesday appointment was a boon only he got to use – they called me back quick and took care of me just as speedily. Then we were gone. I don’t even have a smartphone anymore, so he’s been online more than me, that snickerer ! He’s been so exhausted, I wasn’t even gonna ask for a trip to the Library this week. However, I’m gonna chortle at him when he gets home Monday and I’ve done nothing but surf all day !

Kinda doing that today. There’s things I can unpack, places I can clean, stuff I can arrange, but I’m just relaxing in the afternoon’s light rain. We didn’t have a heavy storm yesterday, and are kinda getting a repeat of it now, but I’m happy for the cooling effects it brings. So nice…

Got some stuff done, though. You can’t imagine the amount of trash this move has generated. Not that much at the apartment, where there were big Dumpsters alla time – but tons here, from cooktops to clean-outs that have included furniture. Beloved and FIL had a huge pile scheduled for pick up this Monday, but the pile vanished last Friday. Both guys were pretty ticked, what were we gonna do with the latest garbage if they picked it up early ? So I called the City Municipals. Turned out City of didn’t pick up the pile last Friday – it was a last round-up from FIMA ! We’re still scheduled for the 16^th. Thank Everything, there’s two busted recliners, a half-dead sofa, a really icky old cooktop and vent hood, and I don’t *even* know what’s in those bags in the backyard, waiting to move along to their next destiny. Long as it’s not here, I’m happy !

I also explored more of the music channels that come with satellite TV that DMIL & DFIL subscribe to. DFIL found three other remote controls, and one of them worked, so we’re good. I’m really looking forward to having internet back, because searching through a few hundred channels via the remote and tv-based guide takes forever. DMIL enjoyed the Big Band channel I had on during today’s ‘coffee klatch’ !

I also got to enjoy  two episodes of Good Times and most of Men In Black – but I really prefer the music ! There must be 30 channels, arranged by decades, genres, countries…wow. Last time I was in the hospital, I got so bored with cable TV, I listened to the music channels, and preferred them. Fostered great naps and a patient, benign peace due to no obnoxious ads or loud shows. Now that I’m much healthier (grin), I still prefer music to any other not-paying-attention background, and radio’s better than my own stuff. More songs, and random ones. These stations are great - all music, no ads, and I can genre skip whenever I want to without having to recharge anything, wait a week for more ‘free’ time, be tied down by headphones, or subscriptions or fees. It’s almost like having XM Radio back, for free, and I’ve been kind of missing that.

Dizzy in the rain

It’s raining ! Oh, cool, sweet rain, come down for a week, you won’t hear me complain ! Yes, I did go out dancing in it, you know I did. So refreshing.

DFIL set up the still-there living room big TV (theirs) with the satellite receiver, so we now get the same stuff they do, but the remote doesn’t respond yet, even with fresh batteries. It’ll come later, I just have to sit right at it to change programs for now. Picky, picky ! Our TV is in the bedroom, not even plugged in. It will be eventually, I gotta get back on my exercises before I complete my ongoing transformation to Jabbette the Hutt.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, I’m getting dizzy and light-headed a lot. There’s not much space I can unpack to, but when I get going, I usually end up stopping for a break much too soon. When did I become such a hot-house flower ? I hate being this weak.

One thing that was nice about it was that DMIL sat down with me on the sofa, and we enjoyed a nice conversation. That’s what I wanted last time we lived here, and now I have it. She enjoyed it, too, so we’re gonna ‘meet’ most mornings in the living room and just sort of hang out and talk about whatever. DFIL even volunteered to make Dearest Son and me breakfast tomorrow ! I think I’m going to enjoy this second try at living together much more than the first ! 

Stove serendipity !

Ok, so. About ‘preferring the after-move’…what was I thinking or imbibing ? Ugh. All our stuff is under the roof, and quite a lot of theirs has been moved to make way for ours, but it’s still an ungodly mess. I did, however, got to make some headway on the living room, where Dearest Son and my desks are. He’s decided to have one desk in his room, and his computer table in the living room… although we kind of decided that second part for him.

Since the front window wall is much too short for even one desk, I shoved the sofa under it – perfect perch for Ginger ! – and unfolded desks until I had something we could move around in, but still have space. It’s a mess still, but I feel much better now that I have most of my Arena back. Most of my sewing and craft stuff is still boxed up, but finally, joyfully, all my MH classmates are back out of their slightly over-crammed box and back on their only slightly snug bleachers, where I can see everybody. That’s gone a long ways to restoring my content and happy.

Another is that Beloved Hubby has installed his desks in his study, and he’s so far, so good in there, although it is also fulla boxes and de-shelved bookcases yearning to be filled. The only thing I can do for him in exchange for all the work he does for us is to give him that one room that’s completely and totally his, so that’s what I’m doing. There’s not gonna be a single doll or so much as a spool of thread in there. He can close the door and not worry that anyone’s blocked from a using a printer or anything. Heck, I thinned out my books to where they can all fit on a half-case (which I already have) in the bedroom, once the closet is cleaned out and put to use for something besides box hiding.

And he installed that new-to-us cooktop, which fit perfectly and is amazing, especially compared to the old one. It still looks so new, and works like a dream. I’ve never had a five-burner arrangement before, so to me, it looks professional-grade. Still can’t believe we got it off Craigslist for $150. 

I can hardly keep up - I'm even behind in naps !

Way to start a week in a different way – it was time for my annual check of ‘the girls’, first thing in the morning. Now I know why there isn’t more complaining about them, as this one was four quick squeezes, four quick images, and ten minutes later, we were outta there with a clean bill of health. For them, at least. My last two m’grams were endless pinches, dozens of images, all requiring posed contortions the Yoga part of my very neglected Wii Fit had not adequately prepared me for. I left clutching my chest muttering, ‘Why am I doing this again ?’. But what I had today was nothing. And everyone was so nice !

Beloved Hubby had made good use of the free Wi-Fi in the waiting room and zeroed in on what might have been the problem with the central heat & air at the house. It’ll be ‘the house’ for a while, it doesn’t seem like ours yet to any of us. Anyway, long, disappointing story short, that wasn’t it, and we’re out $130. of non-refundable parts. Maybe we can sell ‘em on Craigslist or use them later. He’s pretty upset it didn’t work, I was pretty proud of him even trying to fix it himself.

He’s also brokering a deal between himself and a neighbor – we may not have Venus-diesel with us much longer. What with the price of diesel fuel and her maintenance, we can barely afford to drive her. So we may soon have a Toyota sedan, not sure yet.

So many changes, so fast…

An unsettled settling...

Um…the move. Still going. Ever move in when someone else hasn’t finished moving out yet ? And when it’s still 90 degrees and the heater / AC unit is out ? Makes for a very tiring move ! Luckily, there was an air conditioner in the master bedroom, so we had a place to cool down and sleep, but with both our bed and Dearest Son’s, it was pretty crowded.

We got so tired Sunday that we didn’t quite finish – and didn’t have any place left to put stuff – that we finished up today. Seven loads. It’ll be Wednesday at the earliest before I can set up the Arena and debox my much-missed MH dolls in their still-new bleachers. For now, they’ll be on a desk, but Beloved Hubby’s promised me a shelf above, when things settle down and there’s more unpacked boxes than still-packed ones. I’m thinking mid-November…

We found a home for the big aquarium with a neighbor – no place for it here ! – but Dearest Son’s Betta ‘Flair’ is still with us. Ginger’s in and out, meeting the neighborhood clowder (for some reason, they all meet on the opposite grassy yard lot, now a real ‘kitty corner’ !), and deciding where her new roost will be. She just doesn’t know what to make of all these boxes !

The fridge we’re using is a nice one – that hasn’t been used in a while, so I spent most of my day cleaning it. I’m still not sure what that yellow stuff was (mustard ? A dozen exploded eggs ?), but it was everywhere and had been on there a while. Only came off with scouring powder and a scrub brush. Took me forever, because I’d get a shelf and the walls beneath done, and have to rest a bit to go further. Still haven’t done the freezer, and it has stains (chocolate ?) of its own. Wheee !

About all that’s truly unpacked is the cold food – our dresser moves packed, so it doesn’t quite count – and our beds. I got a busy week ahead of me !