Update, of a sort

At this point, I don't even know if you're still reading, or if you've long forgotten me. I know it's been a long while since I've even come near this blog, and for that, I'm truly sad. In a nutshell, I, along with so many other people, lost my livelihood. I won't go into the gory details, because this is truly not the place for that, but I suddenly found myself with Very Important Priorities - that is, to keep my newly-purchased house mine, keep the lights on, and find another gig. So far, so good, though rocky. I was truly put to the test and, to be quite honest, I'm still not sure if I've passed yet. I don't know what's going to happen to this blog - whether I'll keep posting, or if I'll start something new - but I got a kick out of posting about the progress on the house, and I miss that. I'm not one to let the bad times keep me down, and I have good things to share, so I won't be gone for long. I hope that when I do return, you'll still be listening.

Heating woes

I have a gas furnace. It's a few years old, but I think I can do without getting a new one for a few more years. I have my thermostat set to mid-60's during the times I'm home, and down to 55 at night. Gotta tell you - I'm really not liking that. It would be one thing, if I were able to stay in bed all night, but I'm well into the grownup stage, and that's not gonna happen. You should see me sprinting down my long hallway in the middle of the night - it's a real awakening experience, which is annoying, since I don't wanna be awake in the middle of the night. If it weren't for my electric mattress pad (and lunar-powered cat), I don't know what I'd do, but I digress.

I got my most recent bill, and I almost passed out! All those nights of freezing my buns off, and I still had a high bill. All that suffering for nothing. In fact, the only thing I saved on, was electricity, and space heaters are starting to look pretty good to me.

Several of my friends tell me that I shouldn't turn down the thermostat that low, because it has to work harder to come back up in the morning. I'm starting to believe them. Regardless, I re-set the thermostat. Tonight, it's toasty warmness for me, and the cat can go back to stalking nonexistent night creatures.

I want a Kitchen Aid mixer

...and I'm not even sure why yet. Quite a few friends of mine have been raving about them, and one friend told me that her mom has one, and that's what led her to buy one, as well. At this point, I don't see a reason for me to get one, but they have a really cool Cobalt Blue model, which would match the kitchen perfectly. There's already enough green there. The problem is that there are so many different models out there, and I have no idea which one would be best for me. I've made the mistake, too many times, of buying an appliance, using it a couple of times, and putting it away, never to use it again. I can't afford a paperweight that big.

The other issue is that I don't bake, really. Not because I can't; I just haven't spent that much time honing my oven skills. I'm starting to get tempted, however, because of this recipe. I grew up on pineapple upside-down cake, as a result of having a very Southern family, but I have yet to find any up North, and even if I could, I'm not sure it would be as good. "Dry" cake just doesn't do it for me. The picture looks so good, that I'm tempted to head over to the supermarket today, buy the ingredients, and have a go at it. There's no super-long ingredient list, and the instructions are simple enough to not make me run screaming from the kitchen.

I might even have some maraschino cherries hiding somewhere in the cupboards.

Again with the office

This evening, a great friend brought over a bookcase she no longer needed. It fits perfectly in front of one of the office windows. Truth is, the window will be used for illumination only, and not even much of that. Whoever built this house either built it during a time when there were no other houses in the area, or as a practical joke. The vast majority of the windows are directly opposite the windows of the house next door to me. The alleyway between the houses is about three feet wide - honestly, I could probably jump from my house into the next one. Needless to say, I keep the blinds closed at all times. I put Window Film on the downstairs windows, because I needed more light there, but I just keep the blinds closed in the upstairs windows. I don't need that kind of excitement in my life.

Anyway, now that I finally have an extra bookcase, the majority of my books are finally unpacked, and I was able to get rid of at least a few more boxes. I won't even think about the fact that I have many, many books I will never read, nor do I have any interest in reading. Some lucky Freecycler will get those, eventually.

More Office Joy

They say you find the best things, when you're not looking for them, and I'm starting to believe “them.” That's how I came to find the desk. After a most crappy day, I checked my Freecycle email, and lo and behold, someone was giving away a desk. A nice, wooden, Ikea desk. We haven't known each for long, you and I, so I haven't yet told you about my love for all things Ikea. I miss that store, now that I'm so far away from the nearest location. But I digress.

I'd been searching for the perfect desk for my office. Since the office is small, and I already have a tiny computer desk, it couldn't be too large, but I also wanted it big enough to fit laptop #2, as well as the usual office-stationery-like stuff, without causing that cluttery look I've been trying to get away from. So imagine my joy when I checked my Inbox, very close to the time the desk was posted. And I was the first to respond, which is so unlike me these days. I made arrangements to go, as fast as I could, to pick up the desk.

And here it is:



Since it's a corner piece, it's perfect for the room. I got rid of one of the wire shelves (it's currently in the soon-to-be-organized guest room), and put the fold-up table in its place. There's now much less clutter, at least in that corner of the room. I'm going to need new outlets in there – old house, old wiring, one outlet in the entire room – but I've already reserved my electrician friend for that task. Right now, I'm just happy that I have more work space. I haven't decided how I'm going to paint it yet, but that's because I'm nowhere near the decorating stage.

Progress!

What an improvement.



I want to thank everyone who sent me shouts of support, after posting a picture of my hideously embarrassing office. I was also very surprised (and comforted) to hear that I'm not the only one out there with a messy office! I have to tell you that I'm not completely out of the woods yet, but this is a huge step forward.

The worst part was the paper - as I said before, I've got lots of it. I threw out two shopping bags full of stuff I had no business keeping in the first place, and I filed away the most important papers. I still have stuff to file, but I wanted to clear a path first. The room looks a hundred times better, but I still need to figure out a better method for storing my stuff, so that it doesn't happen again (or as often as before). I'm trying to figure out how to make room for another bookshelf in there, which will probably mean that I have to get rid of one of the wire shelves. That's perfectly fine, of course - I can always put the wire shelves in the basement.

I've been watching lots of DIY shows, and I've seen some great ideas for storage. I can't wait to get my free time back again - I plan on finding the perfect second-hand storage unit, or something I can turn into a second-hand storage unit. As soon as I find the perfect find, I'll let you know.



Why, you ask, do I have an electric toothbrush in my office? Because there's no outlet in the bathroom. But that's a topic for another day.

Leftovers

I'm really not much of a breakfast person. Well, let me rephrase that - I'm not really into breakfast foods. I admit, I loooove me some turkey bacon, and I'll enjoy a nice hot bowl of yellow grits, or nice cold bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, but that's about it (and on a side note, I prefer eating Honey Nut Cheerios at night). Whenever I've tried to force anything else down my throat, half if it stays on the plate, especially pancakes. There's only one place I've ever been, where I actually enjoyed the pancakes, and that's Gateway Diner in Albany. I'm sure there may be better elsewhere, but I'm not all that interested in finding out.

Because of my aversion to breakfast foods, I've often avoided the meal altogether, or grabbed a bagel, if i was the only thing available. The only times I enjoyed a breakfast meal, even when I was growing up, was when that meal consisted of whatever leftovers I'd had for the previous night's dinner. I'm really not sure who dictated that the first morning meal of folks in the U.S. should consist of eggs, toast, and some sort of grainy thing, but it seems pretty restrictive to me. I decided to do away with that, and eat whatever I wanted, from here on. Gets a bit difficult when eating at a dining establishment before 11a.m., but I don't do that very often, because it's always disappointing.

I'm not sure why so many people, who don't like breakfasts foods, either force them down anyway, or avoid breakfast altogether, when they really don't have to. I've seen entire forums filled with questions such as "is it okay to eat pasta/fried chicken/any other non-breakfast food for breakfast, or must I stick with Cream of Wheat?" These are written by grown folks, mind you, who shouldn't have to ask for anyone's permission to eat anything, at any time of the day, yet they do just that.

I have a novel idea - eat whatever you want, at any time of day you want. If you want an omelette for dinner, go for it. Chicken florentine first thing in the morning? Be my guest. And don't forget - it's perfectly okay to eat dessert before a meal - I do it all the time.

My breakfast for today? Hot and sour soup.

Yum.