Even mundane accomplishments are still accomplishments !

Whew. Busy day, if a bit on the mundane side. I’m happy ‘cause I got to visit Big Lots for the first time since before I ended up in the hospital this summer, and found three more thrift stores while I was out at the new Aldi’s for the first time in ThisCity – I can’t begin to describe to you how much I love living here again ! I even came in $4.05 under budget, with some treats, which is darn near a miracle. I almost invariably over-spend on groceries even when I’m strict with the purchasing.  

And it’s Flea Market weekend out at the County Fairgrounds ! There’s also a Craft Fair in another building Saturday only. Hmm. Do Dearest Son and I go Friday, to avoid traffic and crowds, or go Saturday and hit up both ? Dearest is all for going both days, in case there’s sellers one day but not the other, and maybe visiting one or two of those thrift stores. Maybe it’ll seem less silly if I look at it as an opportunity for some walking exercise…

Other than that, I did a load of laundry – I love having my own washer and dryer again, so much ! – and a load of dishes. I also love the dishwasher. I hadn’t planned on doing laundry today, but while I was cleaning out the downstairs bathroom cabinet, I found a really nice hairbrush. Nicer than the Dollar Tree ones we’re using. So I pulled out the wad of dyed pink hair trapped in it, and tossed it and our DTree one into the washer with all the dirty clothes I found around. One weekend is all it takes, and I have a full load scattered everywhere. I even washed Beloved Hubby’s slippers. Both brushes came out nice and clean after a good hot wash, and after an afternoon to air dry, are just like new.

Potato soup with ham for dinner. Yum !  

--Yaaaawwwnnn--

We have a Christmas tree ! Beloved Hubby and I finally quit kvetching over live or fake and bought a pretty, pre-lit artificial one. We still have to decorate it, although we put it up tonight, and it lights up the living room. It’s not spectacular, but we like it ! It folds for storage, so I have to remember to save the box.

Beloved was home early, so I didn’t go to ThatPit for another load, but we ended up not going either. Ah,well. Maybe tomorrow. He’s not in a rush because the IL’s don’t need to rush – but then again, 90% of what has to be moved is mine !

For whatever reason, I’ve been dead tired all day and ended up taking a two hour nap. Mostly because I kept falling asleep in my chair ! And I’m still tired. G’night, ya’ll ! 

I can make very small slipcovers now !

Kind of a blah Monday, even with Beloved Hubby home. About all we did was run to ThatPit for another load of stuff. Turns out that the ILs won’t have to vacate ‘til March or April, but they still went through everything we hadn’t yet moved out and put it in piles for us. And bagged up everything they thought might be trash. (sigh) They’re still gonna try to sell the place, and I wish them all the luck in the Universe. Their future plans involve using the proceeds to move to BIL’s state or Uncle’s ‘it’s legal there’ state. Beloved feels absolved from having to worry about them anymore, and a visible load is off his shoulders. So I guess it was a big day after all !

We only got two of the four bookcases, the last of my oxygen supplies, our Christmas decorations, and some other this-and-that moved, but my bike and his tonneau cover remain there, so it’s one more truck load. At least we don’t have to rush, but I still want our stuff. Not sure if I’ll make one more solo run or not – depends on when Beloved makes his next one. If it’s this week, I’ll wait and convoy with him, if not, I may run up tomorrow, get all I can and say, ‘We’re done but for the big stuff !’ and be so happy…

Managed to get one of the Top Five Heavy Liquor Store Boxes O’ Books upstairs – the Barbie and sewing books – and into my little bookcase. It’s half-filled now,  just need to find the fairy tales box. Before, I had little knick-knacks along the top of the case, but I’ve added so many new books to the collection lately (mostly from library sales), and sold half the knick-knacks at the yard sale, I think I’ll go with books there, too, using the bookends I discovered in a box of miscellany.

The chewed armrests on my curb-shopped office chair bugged me today, so I did something about it – I sewed armrest slipcovers ! Used some perhaps vintage fabric from the ‘Scrape Fabric’ bag I bought last week at the thrift down the street. My measurements and estimates were a bit off (another inch all around would have been a good idea), but they fit and I don’t scratch my elbows on ragged-edge vinyl anymore, so I’m calling it a success. I also measured for some curtains I hope to make. Universe knows I got enough fabric. All I need are curtain rods. 

Sunday of the Purple Pirate

I thought this Elsa was so pretty ! I’m a member of D23, a Disney fan club, and this was one of the ’23 Days of Christmas’ gifts. It’s drawn by supervising animator Mark Henn. D23 membership is free if you’re curious – there are higher levels, but I can’t afford Silver, much less Gold. If you know what the ‘23’ refers to, you’re probably already a member – or should be !

I finally got to make something today ! An eyepatch. Woke up this morning with a sty in my right eye, right in the outer corner. Hurt like the grain of sand in an oyster. Not wildly painful,  just very distracting and annoying. I’ve had luck in the past getting rid of them by simply keeping the affected eye closed as much as possible – I had them frequently shortly after I got my first modem-bearing computer in ’95 (although I still count my ’86 Commodore 64 as my very first computer !). So, lacking the pantyhose I used back then to make a slightly compressive band from, I snagged a t-shirt that’s already cut up for doll clothes. Snipped off the longest part, folded it up and made a nearly fashionable headband with it, then snugged it a bit over my eye. Beloved Hubby made cute ‘purple pirate’ jokes all day. Hopefully it’ll be gone tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, I tackled my long-neglected e-mail in-box, busting it down from 462 to 48. Most of those are unread WebMD advisories about diabetes, diets, heart disease, and hypertension, which I don’t have, but they come with the diabetes and heart issue messages. I’ve read the same articles over and over, so I should just delete all the WebMD messages, but there may be one with information I can use. So I’m going through them, three a day, plus whatever new gets delivered. Hope to have them deleted or saved by next week. I read at least a dozen today !

Also ordered some new checks. The ones I have now are from three addresses ago ! They still work, but while we had a few bucks, I wanted to update them. There must be fifty check companies online – and at least twice that many dodges and hustles. If the checks are cheap, check the count, you may be ordering a lot less than ya think. I’m so ancient, I remember when a box of non-duplicate checks held 200 ! And everybody charges a ridiculous amount on shipping – not even gonna get into the ‘in-plant rush’ ploy. Ended up going with a single box of a design I liked, not very expensive, but not the uber-plain ones either, and even with my slightly upgraded shipping, don’t expect them until the day after Christmas. Heck, my last box has barely been touched, and I’m gonna hafta scrap the lot. If we stay here a while, they’ll probably last forever.

The headband and some warm water compresses eased my sty a bit, so I was able to go to Dollar Tree – again ! – with my guys without being a public curiosity. I got a pretty plastic light-up snowflake that flashes several colors. It’s now attached to the front door via the included suction cup. Not bad at all for a buck ! 

If you knew how much time I spent on a silly ballerina cutout, you'd laugh at me *so* hard...

You’d think I’d have spent all day today doing laundry and celebrating being able to, but I didn’t wash a single load. Now that I can do that any time – happy grin ! – it can wait. Having Beloved Hubby home all weekend is a much more rare treat ! We slept in so late, we decided to just wait an hour or so and have an early lunch. Which we did.

Then we made plans for Dearest Son’s Christmas. Reviewed his wish list and decided to go after the PlayStation 3 today – at least see what our budget could get us. We researched online, found a certified pre-owned one, and they offered layaway, so Beloved sneaked out ‘for a soda’ to put half of it down, and they threw in Gran Turismo 5. Almost all set ! Sometime around the 20^th, we’ll pay it out and spend a good chunk of Christmas Eve getting it set up and downloading updates. That and a few more little bits and bobs (probably including a pair of wireless controllers) will give him quite a festive holiday, we think !

While Beloved tooled around in his garage Shop, I took Dearest with me to the pawn shop to look at DVDs, as well as pick up a few groceries. He’s looking for a copy of Transformers, the Michael Bay one, which unfortunately the pawn shop didn’t have this time. They’re overflowing with Friends seasons, though. All we bought this time was a tenth anniversary copy of Mallrats and film festival fave Skateland, which I’ve never seen, but if it's a film more for the film festival circuit and less for me, I at least get 50¢ of my dollar back when I return it.

Grocery store still had the sale sausage in stock, so I bought our limit and got some eggs, too. Bust out the electric griddle, we’re having link sausage and eggs for breakfast tomorrow ! And there’s six chubs of sausage for later in the freezer, too. They also had a $2.48 special on 4lbs of oranges, so I snagged those, too. Delicious and sweet ! Beloved’s favorite candy bars were on sale for 48¢, so I got him a handful, along with some soda for everyone. Diet Canada Dry ginger ale is wonderful ! I’ve really missed that store – sometimes I even buy stuff that’s not on special ! Darn, now I want some Ry Krisps…or Wasa Crispbread…

Some greenery for the scenery !

We have a washer and dryer now ! And to think, we were planning on making a Laundromat run tomorrow. Found several great deals on Craigslist – ‘tis the season to consider listing your unused stuff to buy more stuff ! – but nearly all of them were already sold. The one that wasn’t was a slave to bad timing. I couldn’t drive to CapitolCity today in Emmy-car to pick them up, he didn’t have any time at all this weekend. However, for a few extra bucks, he’d deliver. Sold American ! Dashed out to drain House Checking, and two hours  later, I was fishing out a toasty warm, clean towel. They work great. I’m on my third load – 97 more, and the set will have paid for itself over going to the Laundromat. Yes, that number does include power and water. Laundromats are kinda pricey here.

Beloved Hubby was thrilled – he didn’t have to bust his back to haul and install all weekend. He’s off, and we all want him to rest and do whatever he wants to, for a change. After we get the last of our stuff from ThatPit, that is ! Meanwhile, I’ve done three loads of laundry, and they’ve all come out great. Now to get the clothes from upstairs…

I'm also very happy because washers and dryers make great cutting tables ! For me, they're the perfect height, especially when I'm using the rotary cutter and mat. Heck, I may start stashing that stuff there, I got plenty of cabinet space ! 

The last big football game of the season is tomorrow. I plan on sewing and staying out of traffic – at least until the game’s underway. This town is darn near deserted-looking when there’s thousands of people in the bleachers ! 

It was busy today no matter where I went. Even Harbor Freight !

"Cool," Billy thought. "I got sent to a house
with a disco ball in it !"

Whoof. All the books are home now. Dearest Son and I used every last box we scored from the liquor store – I thought I’d overestimated, but it turned out just right – and they all fit in Emmy-car on the first run, although it was a pretty tight fit. I found more books on today’s second run, but they’re Beloved Hubby’s textbooks, and thanks to the mortgage mess, he’s not going back to school next semester. (sigh)  So I’m not sure what to do with them, I may just snag ‘em next trip and let him decide. My PineCone survey funds deposited to Checking, so  we also stopped by Harbor Freight and picked up the anti-fatigue floor mats I wanted. Last week, they were $10., this week, they’re $7. It’s a set of four that interlock, but I’m putting two in the kitchen, by the sink and stove, and two in the garage Shop, Beloved Hubby can decide where they go in there.

Also hit up Dollar Tree. We needed a cat box sifter (desperately !) and bread, and since Monday and today are bread truck days, it was good timing. I also got everyone a snack and another bottle of ibuprofen for Beloved’s glove box. Seems the last bottle vanished, darn the luck.

So I’m broke again, but it’s perfectly fine. Nothing I really want right now, besides a washer and dryer, anyway. Dearest Son was amazed at how the liquor store just puts out neat, colorful cardboard boxes with awesome dividers in 'em for anyone to take. For free ! Even someone not old enough to go inside can snag as many boxes as they please. I explained that it actually helps the business, since every box we claim is less cardboard the liquor store has to pay to get rid of – most businesses are billed by weight for their trash service, instead of by the can like he’s used to. Which is probably why most of our favorite Chinese restaurants employ at least a pound of cardboard in every take-out order. That, and it does help to keep the dinner containers separate and upright in the bag. Possibly even hot, the food is always steaming when we open the lids, whereas McD’s stuff is usually half cold by the time we get to the driveway.

Reused two wine boxes and got another load of booze boxes and filled nearly all of them up after lunch. I’ll soon be very grateful for the recycling bin ! I even moved my single-shelf bedside bookcase into Emmy-car’s trunk and up the stairs here, by m’self. That wasn’t much – four of those book-boxes, now getting those more than five feet was a Feat of Strength for me. Dearest couldn’t even lift them.

And we about have it all. Beloved has some tools and there’s stuff too big for Emmy – my emergency O2 tank, three tall bookcases, one midsize one, my jewelry armoire, the computer desk chairs, my bicycle – and I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff. But everything I can think of, or have missed, is already here. Or is a bookcase.

Busy day for the house, too. Our second CityOf trash pick-up can got delivered today – we’re gonna need it for a while to help get rid of all the (expletive deleted) the previous tenants left behind. Just in time for tomorrow’s pick-up. And, amazingly, as night fell on a foggy, dreary day, Invisi Billy made his debut. I really wasn’t even hoping that he’d be here tomorrow, but here he is, barely three days after I ordered him. Wow.