Just went through and weeded my friends list. Mostly old groups I belonged to and didn't want to be on anymore. Was quite a bit, actually, and took a whole page off my list! ::pats self::

Am also disturbed by how many friends that are still listed there, who have gone on to the Summerlands. 5, I believe. There may be more, as I have been very lax for the last couple of years in actually hopping into livejournal and actually talking to people. Facebook has been fun, and I'm still there, but it's too much like eating cotton candy (which is a serious bit of crack for me). At least I get to see pretty pictures of my grandkids there.

Car going into the shop tomorrow morning. Crossing fingers for the cheaper fix, but prepared for the pricier one. Either way, my poor car has developed asthma and needs that cleared up. Otherwise, drives fine in spite of the poor gas mileage of late. And the sudden oil leak, which may clear up with the fix. Back pressure and all that.

2nd afghan nearly done, 3 skeins to finish. Then I dig out the 3rd UFO afghan and work on that. That one is for my MIL, and it is very long overdue. These three blankets will virtually empty out my yarn storage bin. What will be left will fit into a small box. That makes me smile. Every time I empty a storage bin, it goes into the storage unit and I gain just a little more space in the house. All those bins end up nicely stacked, waiting to be used again. Excess cardboard either gets used to ship things, or gets tossed into the burn barrel. Small steps keep me from an episode of Hoarders. At least the trash goes out once a week (or so, I try to make it worth the run to the dump).

Finally got an application from the animal shelter to help with defraying the cost of spaying Pyewacket Fourthumbs. Need to that printed off and filled out and sent back in again before she goes into heat.

I swear, the more things I check off my to-do list, the more things get added on. Long day at work, large truck, lots of freight. All got put away and what didn't got squirreled away in unusual places. Am sore, and am looking forward to putting me feet up (ouch!), watching movies and working away on the nearly finished afghan. Must remember to set my alarm. Car to the car doc, then staff meeting in the morning. Will be fun. Really, it will. I work for good people, and my mechanic is good people, too.

For now, I am happy.

Back from mechanic. He agrees that it is most likely the catalytic converter (but which one? It appears there are 2!). Also, big oil leak, which is probably caused by the back pressure buildup of said converter. Am awaiting a phone call on an estimate from other mechanic, as our regualr mechanic doesn't do work on converters (Lots of paperwork and legalese to work on those). Still, was nice to get the confirmation, and to crawl around under the car and see what was what. So, saving up (again) for car repairs. So sad, as she runs so very well and is durable and nimble in the snow. Then again, I did buy a used vehicle, warts and all.

Time to hunker down, crochet, and nibble on some sweet potato and carrot chips (like potato chips, but tastier and without salt, and healthy for you!).

Oh, and hop online and pay a couple more bills.

I did stop in and buy a couple Powerball tickets. And a Megamillions, too. I never knew how much three little tickets would (metaphysically) weigh in my purse. So weird. Would be lovely to pay off the student loans (which have been "rolled over" and impossible to pay off), medical bills, and repair the house. really, take care of those 3 things, and I will be a happy, happy camper for the rest of my years.

Brain fried with the news of David Bowie's passing. Had a grocery list of chores to get done before work this afternoon, but I think it'll just be the bare minimum and then off to work. Pay bills being priority.

Spent yesterday cooking and cleaning. 5 loads of dishes and a huge pot of Ugly Soup accomplished. Still have a large roasting pan to clean and put away, and a counter to finish cleaning, but I'll call it good for now.

Seems like Monday is being exceptionally Mondayish this week.

Still have a pile of things to accomplish later, dining room is still a working disaster area, and the upstairs bathroom a work in progress, but everything still moving forward. Not stagnating. I think I've hit my saturation point for untidy and borderline hoarding. 3 bags of trash went out Friday, so that's a bit of progress right there.

Kitten still needs to be spayed, but I underestimated the cost of that and now have to wait to get more money saved up.

Car is being weird. Will see the mechanic for that on Tuesday. Will be a jury-rig fix, but at least it will remain running, legality of said fix not really a problem in this state, as we aren't required to have emissions tests.

2nd afghan nearly finished. 3rd one is a bit inaccessible since hubby decided to moved a few things out of his way and dumped them into the tiny little spot I had left in my work area. Which was a bitch to get to in the first place. Now the sheets of paneling will have to move before I can access the next afghan. >:(

Bathroom still needs grouting. Will get hold of Mike before I go off to work and let him know my days off this week.

Still haven't had the gumption to sit down and read all the delicious fic on the giftfest. I know I need to. It's just I lose serious amount of time when I do start reading, and I have a lot of things I need to be working on. :( Adulting is so hard.

Started the day early with chores. Three boxes to the post office before it closed, ran the Christmas decorations to the shed, and now I'm sitting in the laundromat doing the mid-winter blanket wash and eating tacos. Will have more laundry when I get home, then round up some trash, clean the litterbox, and change the bedsheets (it is laundry day, after all).

After that, I dunno. Maybe sit on my butt and work on the second afghan that's been in progress for far too long. And watch scary movies.

More Holiday packages can now be assembled and filled, now that the huge pile in the kitchen has been removed. And I can also bake more cookies, once I clear out the kitchen sink. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

Went bowling New Year's Eve and I dragged Lee along as well. He did respectably well, considering his last bowling game was decades ago. (average 148 for all 3 games). I was still above my average, so I'm happy. Broke 100 all three games. :) Am trying to talk him into going bowling again tomorrow, but we shall see. I neglected to cash my check this morning, so funds are limited, since we are having our anniversary pizza tomorrow (Studio Pizza!).

Weather is good, winter weather. Cold, some snow (although not nearly enough for our area) and for today, clear blue sky with an obnoxiously bright sun. I need sunglasses to go out and about today.

My New Years resolution is to continue hacking away at cleaning out my house, fixing what needs to be fixed, and staying healthy. I'm getting lots of exercise 1-2 times a week when the truck comes in at work (moving freight and putting it away; we have no storage area for overstock). I can now hold a case of canned goods (soup, beans, tomatoes, etc)in one hand and stock with the other. And I'm no longer winded going up and down the stairs, although my knee has tried to go out on me a couple of times while I was carrying something heavy; usually two or more cases of canned goods. I admit to sitting on my butt at home a lot lately, mostly to stay warm.

I finished one long-term afghan (I started it when my grandfather died back in '02), and am making progress on the second one, also a long-term project). And there is a third that I started for no other reason than I liked the colours and hadn't done a chevron style in ages. So, yeah, two more afghans to crochet and I'll have a large storage bin empty of yarn and ready to go to the storage unit. What said storage unit is getting rather full. I think I am going to have to start mailing some of Donna's things to her, now that she has a home of her own. Or, just load it all up in a rental truck and take it to her, and fly home again. Which might be the better idea. And cheaper, too.

So, I guess my New Year resolution could be more accurately called the Year of Finishing UFOs. I certainly have enough of them.

There are also a couple of road trips (one being a con) planned for as well. Which reminds me to get the car looked over, I think the catalytic converter is going. Might just bore it out and pretend I know nothing until I can have it fixed properly.

So, that's what's been on my mind lately, other than the little minutiae of day-to-day existence of work and home.

At least there were no disasters to speak of this past year. Let's keep it that way.

Saturday: Hit the floor running (again). Went to the ceramic shop and spent a good part of the day finishing the Seekrit Project. Finally! Will be fired Monday/Tuesday, and ready for pickup on Wednesday. ::crosses fingers nothing horrible happens::

Then, spent the rest of the day moving files from one laptop to the other. didn't finish, but did make a significant dent. Will finish tomorrow, then both laptops can get backed up properly before I start deleting files from the MISTI laptop. I need the room for pics and videos!

Today: Got up and to the store to pick up the rest of my meds. And to order refills on yet another one. Spent part of the morning and afternoon sweeping and vacuuming the living room and dining room. Went to the Laundromat and killed a few hours with the last of the winter blankets. Came home, and mopped the living room, dining room, and gave the kitchen a cursory mopping as well. Significantly less filthy now. Living room floor is now clean enough to lay out the fabric for cutting. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow while the laptops are backing up?

Need to get up early and to the bank and shuffle some funds around. Spent the last $20 on laundry, and I had checks written on Saturday. :/ My bad. Good thing I have funds squirreled away elsewhere.

Speaking of funds, photos of tiles going up on facebook as soon as my phone charges.

Also in the laundryness- I found my old computer bag, with my Dark Mark patch. Was a terrible mess, so it had to go through the laundry as well. And then the zippers were so corroded they had to be soaked in WD-40. A lot. Then, after I finally got the zips moving again, back into the wash to clean off the excess WD-40. All the work paid off: I now have a lovely, multi-pocketed computer bag again. And I can use my poor, bedraggled backpack for other stuff. Like stuff I need ready access to without having to go digging through the suitcase. I don't want to have to haul anything out of the back of the car until I get to MISTI.

And speaking of car- I went through and checked all the fuses. Because I can, and well, I want to make sure everything is in good running order before I take off next Monday. Still have to get an oil change before I take off, too. Probably on Friday.

Panic attacks are still up and running. :/

Ugh. Just spent the last 2 hours updating the gps. A gps, I might add, that was purchased when the twins were still in high school, so, pre 2008. And, from the looks of it, hasn't been updated since Lee was still working on the road. Again, pre-2008. *sigh* Well, it's done, updated, and if I remember to put some money on a pre-paid credit card, I can purchase some updated traffic maps, too.

Long day at work, only 3 of us on staff, and one had to leave to fetch his father from the hospital and take him home. So, for about an hour, there was 2 of us forth whole store. I love the short-staffing our district manager is pulling on us. It's also why I'm only pulling 5 hours a week. Looking at a second job. Will hear more on that later.

Got home, fought with my new contact lenses to get them in so the optician could see them and take measurements, etc, to make sure the were setting on my eyes nicely. Amazing how wonderful a quality pair of contacts feel over the cheap ones I bought for last MISTI. And they freaked a lot of folks out at Walmart, too. :D Was amazing amount of fun.

Struggled to get the window open last night and the fan in. Now, struggled to close the window. Was 80F yesterday. Was about 55F today and wet.

Still have things to do, and less time to do them. Lee reminded me to get a locking gas cap for the car. I hate having to do that, but I am headed to he big city. Also means I need to learn how to use my car alarm. Who uses car alarms in the Northwoods? for that matter, who even bothers to lock their doors, let alone their car doors. Looks like I have a steep learning curve ahead of me. Did pick up new wipers for the car, though. The ones on there now are pretty ratty.

I think tonight will be spent shuffling the extraneous contents of one computer to the other. I need to free up space in the poor old(er) laptop so I can dump pictures and video into it during MISTI. The new laptop rarely ever leaves the house. And, of course, back up files onto the external harddrive.

Busy, busy, busy!

I don't remember if I did one if these yesterday. For that matter, I have no idea what I did yesterday. Today, however, has been busy!

Finished my Owl Post Exchange and finished sealing the last of the tiles. Still need to photograph them, but the bed is a mess with costumes atm.

Made a trench to the sewing machine, but haven't cleared off the table yet. Did unearth a storage bin of carded wool for the Spinning Class. Wool has been vacuumed bagged for transport. I am seriously considering buying more vacuum bags and storing all my wool like that, just for the space it affords.

Everything done for class save for the handouts. Which will get printed when I'm on the road, because we don't have an Office Max anymore. But Marquette does, and they open about the time I am planning on going through there. :D

Found more costume stuff to put into Madam Malkin's sale. Way back in the nether reaches of the closet. Haven't worn them in *decades*, so off they go. Looks like all the costumes (mine and the ones I'm selling) will fit into one jumbo-sized vacuum bag.

Two loads of laundry done, now I'm waiting for the hot water to recover so I can take a shower. In the meantime, I can round up everything I want to throw away in the sewing corner and clear off the table. I have sewing to do this weekend.

And I know it's getting close, because the Panic Attack has set in. Was a close call, I nearly went out for fast food and a reason to blow off the afternoon. Didn't stayed home, toughed my way through it. Won't be fine again until I'm on the road. :/

Yes, I'm a slacker. Well, I did mention I'd be up to my eyeballs with MISTI prep.

May 3: Slow, lazy Sunday. Should have gone outside, but I was finishing up the last of the ceramic tiles. Lee decided he wanted to nap more than he wanted to go see Avengers: Age of Ultron. Which meant I couldn't start spraying the clear coat on the tiles. :P But I did finally finish them! Yay!

May 4: Began the spraying of clear coat. PITA and smelly, but necessary. Also started the final work on my contribution to the MISTI Con Owl Post Exchange. More detailed painting. Went much faster this time than the tiles, since I only needed to use white. Lots and lots of white.

May 5: had to buy more white paint. Of course. Internet crashed somewhere along the way (I wasn't really paying attention until my Pandora radio station quit on me), so I dug up some movies and watched them while painting. Nearly done with Owl Exchange, just finishing touches and clear coat tomorrow. Next up: our Owl Post Box for our room. That's nearly done. Again, finishing touches, and clear coat.

My list of Things To Be Done hasn't changed in length Every time I cross something off, something else gets added. :P Just when I think I have a whole lot done (I do!), I realize I still have a ways to go. :P

I've taken to putting things on the calendar just to make sure they get done in time. Paying bills and getting the car in or an oil change and a once over before the long drive.

And speaking of bills, I need to go pay one (online) before I forget.

Yes, I'm terribly unoriginal with the subject name, but if I don't get it down, my brain will wander off and I'll feel obligated to go look for it, get distracted and the next thing you know it's 3am and I'm shutting down the computer for bedtime.

SED: I finally got the last of those tiles/drink coasters finished! Tomorrow they will get clear coat put on, and cork on the bottom. Then they will be ready for sale (need to raise some $$ for the money I have to take out to get the new starter for my car). Any leftovers will go to MISTI with me to sell there.

Found the bedroom floor after rounding up all kinds of debris and dirty clothes. Also made a run to the dump and stopped off at the feed store to buy cat food.

Looked like an absolutely beautiful day out today, and I spent it all indoors painting the Slytherin crest on tiles. Tomorrow, I will go to the ceramic shop and put the final touches on a couple seekrit projects I've ben making for MISTI.

Oh, and I woke up and there was a brand, shiny new Princess in the world! It doesn't get better than that. Happy Birthday, Princess of Cambridge! (I think that's her title, yes?)

Well, actually May 2 by now, but I'm still up for a little bit, so hey.

Another lovely day. Work was fine until I ran out of things to do, so I had to roam around a very small store looking for things to straighten up and put away, and just fiddle with things for a couple hours. I don't do boredom well.

Ran to Walmart afterwards to pick up trash bags. You'd think with the large amount of groceries I picked up yesterday, I would have remembered the trash bags (it was even on my list!). Nope. So, now I can round up trash and maybe even manage a run to the dump tomorrow (much later today).

The two limbs that had t be taken off my poor little cherry tree have found a new home. Co-worker is going to attempt to splice them onto some rootstock at home. If it works out, then he'll have two new (free!) winter-hardy, self-pollenating cherry trees! Yay! They were such nice, strong branches, too, I hated the thought of tossing them onto the compost.

Still haven't worked on the tiles yet. Did get a bunch of junk picked up and thrown into trash bags, though. And cleared some debris from around some very small berry bushes (gooseberries, I think). I need to put markers on them, I missed them completely yesterday when I was tending the other trees. Also looks like the red raspberries are going to need a trim.

Both cars are still running. Rest of the house is still a pit. Otherwise, everything's looking good. MISTI-Con panic is beginning to set in.