Year End Round Up

• In January, I officially transitioned to my new job.  I've now got the best boss ever.
• In February, I paid to finish off a $3000 project that revolved around having the basement waterproofed.
• In March, I had surgery.  Just like that, I was healthy again.  Before, I thought that I hadn't felt well for a couple of years.  Now that I remember what healthy feels like, I realize that I'd been sick for much longer than that.  
• In May, I started keeping track of what I eat.  I'm not dieting, really, just aiming to eat healthier and limit the treats.  So far, I've lost 23 pounds.
• In July, the house flooded.  (See February)
• In August, the nephews and their parents moved to BC.  I miss them like crazy.
• In September, my dad and I replaced the stairs on the back deck, making them easier for old dogs.   After two years of being carried up and down the stairs, Cotton can get on and off the deck on his own again.
• In October, I bought a piece of original art.  My girl's a star.
• In November, the insurance claim from the flood was finally processed.   I could start replacing things that were lost.
• In December, I could look back and say that I'd had a pretty good year.  I hope you could too.  May 2012 be prosperous and happy for you, and may your blogging be abundant.

Making progress

I've spent the last week working in the basement.  Having an unfinished basement leads to the very strong temptation to store 'stuff', and I'm determined to get rid of it.  I thought that I'd done a pretty good job of cutting back when my basement flooded, but there's a long way to go.  I want to pare down until everything is put away and organized, so I've been going through a lot of boxes.  I'm being brutal and getting rid of a lot, and it hasn't been easy.

One good thing about taking the time to go through all the boxes is that I've found a whack of books.  I had (and lost in the flood) quite a few boxes that were specifically for storing books, but it seems that I had a bad habit that's now paying off.  Rather than putting books where they belonged, I often tossed them into piles and random boxes; I'm finding them now.

I also cashed in a couple of gift cards by scooping up any classics that I could find in the discount sections at book stores, and adding those to the newly 'found' books means that my Library is starting to have a fairly good selection.  I've got them sorted by gendre for now - mysteries, classics, romance, general fiction, comedy, language, gardening, art and children's books each have a section.   The library has a ways to go before it's full, but it doesn't look empty anymore.

I still need a table, console or something to go in front of the window.  I also need a file cabinet, so I'll be heading over to the Habitat for Humanity's RE store.  I'm hoping that I can find something with a little bit of history to clean up or maybe refinish and then put to good use.

Then I'm going to start saving up for a new closet door.

Do you...

...Hula?

I call this picture "The Tallulah Hula".

I've been looking for new, interesting ways to get exercise lately; and being a cheapskate of a homebody, I give extra credits to things that I can do without leaving the house.

I decided to give the old Hula Hoop a try.  Not having done this for the last 30 years, I'm a wee bit out of practice.  For the first twenty minutes or so, I couldn't do better than spinning the hoop around myself 3 times before it dropped.  But, I'm figuring it out.  I have to lose the hip swivel that I learned in dance class, and go for the full body fluctuation.  I worked on it for about an hour on and off, and I'm up to 28 rotations without dropping the hoop.  And holy cow, could I feel it.  I had no idea that a childhood game took so much work.

Tallulah likes the new hoop. 
 Apparently, it reminds her of early agility and obedience days, where she was trained to go to her "place" (usually delineated with hula hoops).

For obvious reasons, the dogs are not allowed in the room while I'm doing this.  I don't want anybody to get knocked in the noggin by a flying hula hoop, so I make them leave the room and close the door.

I also close the curtains, because I wouldn't want anybody to see my wild, gyrating attempts to overcome gravity.  But, after I had been at it for about 10 minutes, I happened to notice something.

I had an audience.

It was the snickering that gave him away.

Randomosity

• I am completely addicted to advice columns.  It doesn't matter how stupid the questions are, I want to know the answer.  I have a list of them that I have bookmarked and read all the time, and I'm happy to report that I just found the archive for one that's new (to me).  It's been published for years, so there's lots to catch up on.  Even better, it's written by a straight shooting comedienne.    If I go missing next week, that's where I'll be.
• I am happy to report that after three an a half weeks with a raging ear infection, it's finally gone.  That constant ringing in my ears was no fun at all. 
• I have a friend who struggles financially, despite working three jobs.  I hire her to do certain jobs for me when I can, but she'll only take what she considers to be a reasonable fee.  (We 'fight' about this all the time.)  Every year, I try to give her money for Christmas, but every year she refuses.   I wish I could find a way to help her out without stomping on her pride.
• My snow elf came around again today.  I made the mistake of looking out the window when I heard the shovelling, but they must have seen me before I saw them.  The shovelling promptly stopped.  My driveway is currently half shovelled, but apparently the elf's desire to remain anonymous is more important than my desire to know who they are.  Note to self: stop looking out the window
• Bookless Bookshelves make great playgrounds for kitties.

Size matters

I got a new purse last fall.

It's bigger than I'm used to, but I thought I'd give it a shot.  It's got lots of pockets, so I figured I could be all organized and keep everything in a specific spot.

Let me tell you, I've been throwing things in this purse.  Spare cloth bags, in case I ended up in a store unprepared.  Hand sanitizer, for when we eat out.  Epi pens.  A toothbrush and toothpaste.  My Blackberry.  A book.  My wallet.  A half empty bottle of pop and a full sized chocolate bar.  

And the bag seemed empty.

I'm really not sure when those last two were thrown in, but I found them over the weekend.  I've concluded that if I can carry a bottle of pop and a chocolate bar around for an indeterminate amount of time without knowing it, my purse is too big.   

All I need is room to carry my wallet and an Epi pen, and anything more is temptation.  (Kind of like getting a cart when you run into the grocery store for three things.)  Methinks it's time to dig back in the closet and find something smaller.

Library Fail #2

The chaise lounge chair is 6' by 3' (and a bit).

The library room (once you consider the bookshelves and the new desk) is 7' by 8', minus a little bit at one end, where there's an angle and a bay window.

While the lounge chair technically fits, it kind of fills the room.  I had figured that I could place it across the one end of the room, but the angle and the location of the door make it awkward.  So, after a not-very-little effort to haul it into the room this morning, I hauled it back out.

The new chaise lounge chair will reside in my living room for now.  I'd be more upset, but I've laid on it for the last month anytime that I've watched tv, and I've got to admit that I kinda like it there... even if it doesn't quite match.

In summary:  Bookshelves, curtains, granite table/desk, chaise lounge chair

Library: 2
Me: 2

In other news, I've decided to take up yoga.  
It seems that I have a (mostly) vacant room that will be the perfect place.

One Time Offer

Not everybody's got my sense of humour, and I'm OK with that.  But, when somebody has the same sense of funny as I do, it really makes my day.

Do you remember this?

I still have it.  I was going to use it as a coaster, but really it's sat on my desk all this time, making me laugh when I notice it.

Moosepants totally made my day week with the awesomest of all Christmas Presents.  It's gafa worthy.

  TWO ROLLS!

In the spirit of Christmas, I'm prepared to share.  If you, too, would like to know how the other half lives, send me your address.  I'll ship you a couple of squares.