Junk Pile!

When we moved in here, we were so sick of all of our stuff! There was just so MUCH and so many useless, under-used, and never-used items. So we decided to make a big pile of stuff in the garage and have a local thrift store come pick it up.

 

Here's the pile so far. I will arrange for the pick-up next week, when I know I won't have to miss out on work to meet the truck. I'm still debating adding a few things: a bread machine and my second coffee maker, maybe some more clothes if I have time to sort through them again. So the pile may grow even larger! I just have to stay out of it in the meantime, so I don't take anything back out.

Healthful Eating Mode

 

During this window of time between Halloween candy and Thanksgiving pies, I'm in the mood for salads, fruit smoothies, turkey wraps, and homemade burritos.

Ever since we started packing to move, I've been eating more processed foods, fast foods, junk foods, beer, and soda than normal. We moved, and then we were unpacking, and then we got sick and I didn't feel like making good food, and since then I've had a hard time getting back to my usual eating habits. Generally, I eat half health-nut food and half just-okay or kinda-crappy food. I usually do not drink any soda (really I just drink water and coffee with milk 99% of the time). But I've been eating lots of junk and only a little health-nutty for about 2 months now.

So, with Jason on the road for a week, I have a great opportunity to re-set my habits and eat better. I hate to waste food, so buying lots of produce is a great way to force myself to eat it. Today has gone well, and I hope to keep it up all week.

FLEECE!

 


Since it's getting chillier outside, I am very drawn to working with fleece. I have a few craft ideas, and I'll share them with you as I try them out.

You already know about my plan to use fleece as a backing for some little Mullett Quilt Blankets (pretty on the front; comfy on the back). Hopefully I'll make some progress on that front this afternoon.

I have a couple other ideas up my sleeve. I'll share if they're the least bit successful, or if they're humorously unsuccessful!

Saturday!

I'm so glad it's the weekend and I don't have to work for a couple days. I got a few little things done:

* sorted out the last of our stuff to donate, and got it out of my way and into the garage. Now the only things in my office are things that belong there. Finally!

* painted over lots of spots on the walls: scuff marks, scrapes, stains, nail holes, and maybe a couple spider webs (we have a TON of spiders!) And put the paint in the garage and out of my way.

* went for a bike ride around the neighborhood and played on some pretty impressive playground toys at the school. Some of them seemed shockingly dangerous in this litigious era. While riding around, Jason had a 3-foot long spider web strand streaming out behind him, shining in the sun. It did not want to be removed under any circumstances.

* watched a niece's softball game and this:


* wandered around the craft store, looking for a frame for Jason's friend's painting. Guess what I saw inside a shadow box frame -- yet another spider, darting around. How did it get in there?

* wandered around a warehouse store and bought lots of stuff, including brand new sheets. Now I'm sorry I just changed the sheets last night, because otherwise I would have thrown them in the washer and slept on them tonight.

* noticed that my Jack o'lantern is rotting in the creepiest way: teeth first. Too much candy?

Book 85: Dracula

Since May, I've been reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, in installments. This blogger posts epistolary novels (written in the form of diaries or letters) so that the entry in the novel dated November 5th is revealed (or sent to your blog reader) on November 5th.

It was a fun way to read Dracula, having to wait to see what would happen, and suffering along with the characters for months instead of just days or weeks.

The novel itself tells of an old, old vampire who decides to move to England, where the locals weren't yet terrified of him. But he makes the mistake of biting the wrong women! Those gals have some tough guys in love with them, and those guys know an unconventional doctor from Amsterdam who knows a few things about vampires.

Sometimes it's boring, like many old horror novels. But there are great phrasings, like, "I bethought myself" to make up for it.

--
I will try to finish the JFK conspiracy theory book this weekend. I also recorded some show about different JFK assassination theories, so I can watch that and I'll be all consipiracy-obsessed. Might as well make a weekend of it and re-watch last week's "Mad Men," in which the characters react to JFK's death. "WHAT IS GOING ON?" screams Betty at the TV when Oswald gets shot by Jack Ruby, as well she should!

Something Good To Eat

Steel cut oatmeal with pomegranate seeds and milk. And coffee and milk served in a German beer stein.

Book 84: A Dirty Job

A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore, is funny, surprising, imaginative, smart, and weird. It's a fun read.

The main character, Charlie, suddenly becomes a Death Merchant. He has to help with the redistribution of souls. All kinds of things happen in and around second-hand stores and sewers. There's a baby, and taxidermy, and little fancy costumes, and giant dogs, and Celtic Gods.



If I don't finish another book by the end of this week, I'll be 5 books behind on my challenge. I need to finish the ones that I've already started, but I am drawn to other books instead. I guess I need to decide if it is really important to me to reach 104 this year, or if I just wanted to see if I could read a lot of books.

Searching my heart...

I'm going to be pretty pissed if I don't reach 104! So I guess the important thing is meeting the exact goal of 104 books read in 2009.

Next year, I'm not doing this. I think I will make a different reading challenge for myself, focused more on quality than quantity. Like, reading more nonfiction and biographies and Fine Literature. And I want to read a book in Spanish. And I'll probably still read a bunch of mysteries now that they've wormed their way into my good graces.

(Are there BAD graces, and if so, what are they??)

Try to guess the meaning of this

 

Okay, I'll tell you. I'm refurbishing some old picture frames. Okay, I'm just painting them with some metallic paint.

And yes, that is my Christmas tree skirt under there. And YES, I already have my tree up, but it's not for fun! I had to take some photos of Christmas ornaments, and they just look a lot better if they're on a tree rather than sitting around casually.

I used to hang them on an evergreen outside of our place, behind the parking lot. But now we moved and the nearest evergreen is right next to the highway and people are nosy and they'd be like, "what's she taking a picture of?" and then, because we all steer in the direction we're gawking, they'd drive over and crash right into me. Obviously, the safer plan is to just live with having a Christmas tree set up for an extra month this year.