Laura

About to head out and run some errands. I got most of the boxes in the garage marked as to whether they are heading into storage. (Our garage is full of clutter. Most of it, we will likely get rid of, but we need to actually go through it. Thus, a storage facility to hold the portion not currently being evaluated. It will also get some items from my parents' house - mostly the books, which I need to compare to our collection, and consider. That takes time, so a storage facility will help keep us from being buried by these things in the meanwhile.)

Tomorrow we do a lot of juggling of stuff, hence the marking it today.

Got a load of laundry done. This is nice as I did not fancy wearing shorts outside today. It is not nearly as cold as some places (you people still have snow!?!) but it is still a bit brisk for shorts, and I'm planning to go to the Japanese Garden which is usually colder, being well-shaded.

I do not like the way the Creative mp3 player has to be pulled apart to use it in the computer, but because this one is larger than the last one I had, it is at least easier. I do like the playback quality, it handles the encrypted audio books just fine. I picked up one of those FM transmitters so that it can play to the radio in the car, which will spare me from having to get onto CD everything I want to hear in the car. (CDs are so cheap that actually, in spite of the low price of the device, it will be quite some while before there is a cost savings in having done so - but there's a definite convenience advantage!!) It remembers just fine where it was when I shut it off, which is a good thing as otherwise it would've been swiftly returned.

Babe is a sheddy little cat. But a sweetheart. If I sit on the floor with my legs apart a bit, she will lie between them with her paws, chest, and head on one of my legs, cram her little kitty head into the crook of my elbow, and purr while I pet her with the other hand. Basta is doing well, though she neither sheds nor acts like a burrowing creature, she simply sprawls and purrs and is cute and likes attention. All very suitable catliness. I'm so glad they are well-settled. I thought at first that the various things I'd bought them were being scorned - and perhaps they were at first - but now, the self-petter, the cat stand, the sharpening things - all are well into use and the cats seem quite happy. Basta ignores the cat tree by the window, but I am not surprised. The first level of it has no great view and the upper level is out of her reach, with her arthritis. Babe, on the other hand, likes to get up to the upper level and lie there, looking out at the back yard.

Speaking of the yard, in theory we will get a number sometime after Saturday to get someone to work with on a design for the back yard. My ability to actually cope with doing that, amidst the doing of so much else, is a bit low, but at the same time I would very much like for it to be done. Or at least begun. That would be worth something.

Ah well, errands - errands, and a stop at the Gardens. Nothing really torturous in the errands - go to the library, the post office, that sort of thing. If I have time on my way back from the Gardens, I think I may stop at Powell's also. I guess I will see when I get to that point. :)

Had to take the car in for DEQ testing and new license tags at some point; today presented itself. I adore not working Fridays. Going to the DEQ station early on a Friday afternoon is bliss, compared to the Saturday lines. Since I was out, I did most of my out and about errands - stopped at the bank, put gas in the car (as getting home is also nice, and it was kinda low), had the oil changed (must be "take care of my car" day!), all that fun stuff.

It hit 80 today. This is ridiculous: it's early APRIL for pity's sake. I added a stop at the consignment shop on to my list and got two pairs of shorts. I haven't worn shorts in years; I came to loathe them as a teenager. Of course, when I was a teenager, the ones that are so skimpy they are almost underpants were The Style (even in PE classes at school, for pity's sake!). No one likes a garment that simultaneously makes them feel like they're on the verge of exposing things you ought not, and makes them look absurd. Those shorts did that nicely for me. Now, I don't know what's "in" or whatnot, but it is not hard to get "shorts" that go most of the way to my knees and are comfortable instead of, well, not. They may or may not be fashionable but they please me and they'll be comfy and they look nice to my eyes, so....

The laundry is half-done, the dishes are running, the cats are spoiled (this is not particularly a task of my day, just a fact of my reality, I suppose), the pants that I needed to return to Land's End have been shipped back, I have an mp3 player that can handle (in theory, I will test it in a little bit) DRM-protected .wma files (which is what I get when downloading from my library's online audiobook service) as well as mp3's.

I didn't get everything on the to-do list done, but since it's a weekend-long to-do list, I don't feel too bad. Okay, really it's a two-day list because Sunday we are going up for Easter dinner with Scott's aunt and uncle and their family.

I would have taken photos today - there were a couple nice shots I could have gotten - but I forgot the camera. Ack! Oh, well....

Not posting much for lack of anything all that interesting to say. I made level 46 in WoW over the weekend with my mage, Scott's warrior followed tonight. The laundry got done. The cats play cutely. I read a book called Monkeewrench (which my parents had owned, and I'd never heard of) and enjoyed it, though it was disturbing and I think weak in some ways (which I really can't comment on without spoilering chunks of it). But it was a decent read, at least. Also re-read Tamora Pierce's Terrier (would like the next one now please). I'm listening to Stephen King's On Writing in audiobook form as I drive, lately. I'm not sure why: I am not planning to write fiction, which is what he's talking about, or even non-fiction. Poetry, yes, but.... But I find it enjoyable to listen to, at least, and that in itself is worth something. Perhaps I'll use the information one day and perhaps not; hard to know.

Got quite a bit done at work yesterday. And today, but yesterday I finished off something I was working on, so today I started something new and while I have gotten a lot done, it doesn't feel as neat as getting something completely done. It will get there, though!

I keep meaning to get more photographs and memories up, but they take time...tonight I played WoW, tomorrow I have a roleplaying game with Scott and some of our friends; perhaps Thursday, or over the weekend.

For now, time for bed, I think.

Lowe's has a lovely table that I covet. Unfortunately, it's too large, and I covet it smaller. It is aluminum, theoretically rust-resistant, and takes 12x12 inch tiles to form the table surface - allowing one to change out the appearance of the table for a price of a few tiles, even floor tiles. But I want a table like that, but only 2 x 2 tiles (about 2x2 feet, in other words). Anyone happen to know a company that has such a thing?

For reference, the Lowe's item that I am describing is this thing here. It's a nice table, just too large for what I want.

Note that while I would dearly love a smaller one of those, anything of a similar configurable nature would be great. It DOES need to be safe to put outside, though - this is for the front porch. It will be under cover but subject to weather when it gets windy.

Today, I have played World of Warcraft with Scott in two separate sessions, once questing, once keeping him defended while he worked on the fishing tournament (alas, he was at only 31 when the winner turned in the 40). The laptop is not ideal for this - even with the best settings I could pick for video, it lags a bit in crowds, and worse, after a while it starts to get hot. Poor over-stressed laptop. But it did the job and both times we finished what we were doing and I signed out before it could actually overheat. I think I need to get one of those cooling platforms for it (whether or not I continue to play the game on it), but fitting them in where it goes may be difficult. It hasn't got a lot of clearance to the shelf above.

Spent some time napping in between the two sessions, and some time cuddling the cats. Basta is perfectly content, but Babe is still twitchy and upset around me. Hopefully - probably - just due to the flea treatment, since I'm not aware of anything else I've done that would upset her.

The sky outside is grey and the rain is coming down, heavily enough to almost seem to make a light fog across the area. The stream between us and the pasture next door is chattering away busily as it does in winter and spring (it goes away again in summer), and it's a lovely sound. I remember being drawn to that sound when we moved here, and then so much not hearing it, because the windows were closed - the cost of heating the house, my allergies, etc., etc. Right now the cats are not allowed in the computer room (it's a mess, and any number of things could be damaged that we don't want damaged), so the door is closed. So it tends to get to warm and opening the window is useful. And my allergies are better and it is, in any case, winter and unlikely to trigger many of them.

I think I need to find a landscape designer in our area. Our landscaper will not do design services, so I was going to design the backyard by myself, basically with our landscaper supplying a "that would be a dumb idea because of X" reality check (which he had agreed he could do). Bluntly, I wasn't getting much done before Mom's illness was diagnosed, and I am still not getting much done. I know approximately what I want to accomplish, what I want it to feel like, the plants I love and want to incorporate somewhere. But in order to really design it out, I would need to do a lot of research, and I would also need to get a good graph of our back yard. I can do all that! But I have other things that I really want to do more, and in some cases need to do more. So I want to find a professional and find out what it would cost me to pass that part to them and just approve it (or not). If it is not too expensive, it makes more sense than trying to do it myself.

I guess this proves I don't have Dad's tendency to do-it-yourself and tinker. I do sometimes, but when there is too much to be done, I would rather get the things done that I want finished (and I really want that back yard to be more than bark mulch and little blackberry shoots from the roots that are holding the soil together). Even if that means I don't do it myself - oh well. Dad enjoyed the process, and the learning, and the exploring, and I don't think he got too frustrated waiting until he had all the pieces. I learned more from Mom - she sometimes commented that we were "camping out" at the house, though I think she also loved the Ridge - but she would have liked to have the siding, roof, heat pump, new well, interior redone, etc., sometime a bit sooner than 20+ years after we moved in, I think. There are a lot of things I can let go of and that can wait until we get to them. It's not super-critical that we get the curtains up in the computer room; I'd like to, but if the rod stays where it is until we get around to it, that's fine. The back yard is somewhere in the middle - I really want it done, but at the same time, if it's too much trouble or expense to get it done, it can sit until I find time to design it. So we'll see.

I'm as good as my Dad was at procrastinating on things, especially low-priority projects. But I hit a point of frustration with the medium or high priority ones where I need to do something, and if that means changing the project so that it takes less energy, focus, or knowledge from me - so be it. Within reason, and as long as I still think the end result is going where I want it.

I haven't taken a photograph yet today. I will have to work on that. As well as on eating better, since I just realized I've had breakfast foods and snacks all day, and it's after 3! So much for eating a good lunch. I'd better have a healthy dinner - or a late lunch - or both. Ah well. At least I'm eating, now to make it a better balance of things that are good for me, compared to those that are just snacks or sweets.

No trip to the Gardens today. I want to cocoon and stay at home, and the Gardens will in any case close in 40 minutes since they are still on winter hours. I am thinking perhaps one day next weekend I can go to the Gardens, if I am in the mood then. Next weekend is a four-day weekend for me, anyway. (We get Martin Luther King Junior's birthday as a holiday on Monday, and then I have Tuesday off since it is my birthday.) I fully expect to spend my birthday installing the new World of Warcraft supplement, Burning Crusade, which is due out that day, and then checking it out. I hope that I get to - if they are not in, or are sold out, I will be sad. Ah well, I'll get it eventually in any case!

A couple days ago, I called our alarm company to change the call-out list (I need to change it again, to add someone else, but will get to that later). I also asked them to start a work order to get our programming changed, so that we can have pets loose in the house while we're out. As it is, I distinctly remember saying "no pets, none planned" when we got the system, and that's what the motion detectors are tuned for. They'll spot the cats and freak out for sure, once the cats have the run of the house.

Anyway, I was supposed to get a call back in 24-48 hours. I did not. So I called them, got the number of the local company, and called them.

And lo, much was explained. The local company's work truck was stolen last night. The police found it, and they're now finding out if it's still usable, whether the tools are there, etc. I must concede that does explain why they might not be calling about service requests in a timely fashion!

I made sure they had my cell number.

At least for now since the cats are still shut in the bathroom, it is not a problem. And until we solve the 'close off the front door area' it is probably STILL not a problem.

Some while back, Scott and I bought a bed. We like this bed, but had I known when we bought it how tall it was, I'm not sure I would've been willing. It's part of the new (pointless, in my book) trend toward taller beds, and the top of the mattress is 30" off the ground. Unfortunately, while taller beds are "in", apparently taller nightstands are not. I'm still trying to find something to replace the foldout table presently acting as a 'nightstand' (in particular, I would like two, as the things on my side of the bed are currently not well-placed for me to reach them, which is annoying).

I need something 28-35 inches in height, no more than 18 inches wide or deep, no less than 12 inches wide or deep, that is not merely a table but has either shelves or drawers underneath. I need it to match a room in which all the wood is stained a dark brown that is almost black, except the dresser which is stained a mid-dark brown. I would prefer, because the colors are generally dominant (and are in the bed) to get a dark-brown-almost-black.

So far, the only match to form that I have found comes from Target in my choice of white or light maple laminate. This is really not a solution. At all. Although I'm still tempted to get one of them, just until I find what I really want, just so my kleenex will be within reach instead of having fallen on the floor again.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Stores? (No Ikea, please, unless it is EXACTLY what I described, which seems unlikely: I'd have to go to Seattle, which is about a three and a half hour drive, and then bring it back in a Toyota Corolla. That's not really worth it for anything less than a perfect match.)

Blah. That's going to probably be part of my upcoming weekend. (The other part will be visiting my parents, assuming they're up for a visit. That at least will be cheerful and good.)

Why do I say this, when I don't live with them?

Simple - they gave us their old freestanding air conditioner when they got it. And as a result, our downstairs now has AC as well. It can't keep it at a set temperature - the space is too large for the one AC - but it does a pretty good job of keeping it under control, which is all I really care about. Poor abused AC. But we use it only when using the space, or on the rare day like today where if you let the temperature rise, you're never going to get it back to tolerable. (High forecast for today: 101. Not sure if it made it. Didn't check. Didn't go outside after an early-morning run to the grocery store. The areas of the house without AC were certainly suitably miserable.)

The booksehlves are in. They look much better there than did the desk - the room is more open. (When the desk was gone and the shelves weren't there, it looked like bare/wasted space - but with the shelves it's nice).

I need another shelf set. I also need to find at least two mounting thingies for the one shelf remaining from the last shelf set. If I fail, the next shelf set will have a couple extras, as they usually do....

Have moved the obvious candidates over from the bookshelf closer to my desk. Will need to unpack the boxes of crud that were on the floor and figure out where they belong. But I'm deferring that until after I have the shelf set. Since it is nice to actually have places to put the things you are sorting out. I can pick it up tomorrow on the way home from work.(The new set needs only one more shelf. The one near my desk, however, is being repurposed from 'mostly large computer books' to 'mostly smaller stuff with some larger stuff' and needs more shelves. Plus, well, I need the mounting thingies. Sigh.)

Many thanks to pheon who got a call from me today basically asking if I should push ahead with what I was doing or try something different. As it turned out, the answer was push ahead and that worked. (Very, VERY stubborn stud that did not want to let the screws in - I wasn't sure I hadn't hit metal. He pointed out logically that I should try to drill - that would let the screw in if it was just a really hard stud, and not work if it was metal. It worked. For certain 'ow my arm got a workout' values of work. This bookcase is not gonna come down accidentally. I'm not sure it'll come down if we want it to....)

Long, long weekend, as we have vacation all next week. So far it just feels like a weekend, but I sure am looking forward to all that time. I might finally get the reorganization in the computer room complete (it'd be nice to remove the desk that is not being used any more except as a storage space, and replace it with the bookshelf I want, which will use less space and store more...).

I'm writing poetry again. And roleplaying more. And messing around with fake water stuff, which is amusing, but I suspect at some point the amusement factor there will wear off (at least enough that it won't be worth the cost of materials any more).