Unmitigated

Blogging 101 Class

This is my first time writing a post on my android tablet. The interface is weird, and I am still getting used to typing on a flat keyboard, so we will see how it goes.

Last Thursday, the item I chose to finish was a PowerPoint presentation that I would need for a class I am teaching today. At the History Attraction where I work, today is the All Staff conference. Back issues prevent me from attending most of the day, since I still can't sit for very long, but a few months ago, I agreed to teach an afternoon session for blogging newbies, which they are calling Blogging 101.

In a little bit I will leave for yoga class, then I will have just enough time to come home, get cleaned up, and go visit my place of employment for a couple hours. It will be nice to see everyone, but I wish I had a shirt that said, "Ask me about ANYTHING ELSE." I am in one of those states where I have disappeared, and I am only a dysfunctional set of vertebrae. Sounds like a first world problem to me, so enough.

While I was making the bed this morning, my mind wandered where it often does during household tasks: The Newlywed Game. If Bob Eubanks were to ask us, "How many pillows are there on your bed?……" How would I answer? There are 8 rergular pillows on our bed, but there is also one little decorative pillow. I always think that we would have planned something out ahead of time, like, 'always use the widest possible definition for objects' or that we would have somehow come up with a secret code...one blink for no, two blinks for yes.

Then I remember...we have bee married for more that 26 years, and nobody is going to invite us to be on the Newlywed Game, and who the hell thinks about this stuff? Probably just me.

And just so you know, the android post thing is not going to work. You can only select a single category, and since there are no directional arrows on an android keyboard (at least none that I was able to find) it's a big pain to try to get the cursor to the bottom of the post if you need to go back and edit, for some reason. Trust me on this one. I have been able to comment pretty well with the tablet, so that makes me happy.

Which is good, because I just had the hot flash from Hades, so I am now a clammy mess. Yeesh, this day is not starting out too well, is it?

Today's Task

Why is this simple pile of paper so damn daunting? Nothing in here is time-intensive. Some of the stuff in this pile will net us some cash. And yet, here it sits. It's all very neat, really, it's just waiting to be attended to. Every once in a while, I will get the yen to be productive (sadly, the whiles are very, very once-ish), and I will whip through a pile like this, culling, updating, paying, filing, etc. Today is the day. But only because I am making it happen. No yen in sight. It's mostly medical, which I handle in our household, because medical billing and insurance are ridiculously complex, although I am not complaining. I am grateful to have some really wonderful insurance coverage, enabling us to get treatment when we need it.

 

How long do you think it will take before the next pile accrues?

Strutting

I'm not really strutting, but I must say I am feeling pretty self-righteous. Got up this morning around 7:00, because I like to. I'm definitely a morning person. Had some breakfast, read some blogs, had a cup of coffee, recaulked half the tub, drove to yoga class, stretched like crazy, felt really good, drove home, picked up a scrip at the pharmacy because I planned it that way, and home before noon. Now, I get the rest of the day to feel good about myself.

 

And completely push from my mind the fact that I ate FIVE Dunkin' Donuts in 24 hours.

 

Thank God those are gone.

What Was That Last One Called Again?

Oh, yeah. Getting my shit together. Finishing things.

Second item finished is something I can't blog about right now, because there is a surprise involved (though the surprise is included to make me feel less shitty about taking so long to make things right. So, less of a surprise than a penance that will end up being kind of cool, but not as cool as if I hadn't been such a shithead in the first place.) Are we all clear on that? Okay, then.

I have finally decided it was time for my diet to grow up, at least a little bit. The Lucky Charms and Pop Tarts Daily Regimen tasted awesome and was sooooo happy-making, but my admittedly very small inner-adult was protesting. Not very much, because she's pretty juvenile, too, but still.

So I went to Costco on the way home from Yoga class, and now the fridge is absolutely bulging with fruits and vegetables. And yesterday, I started the day with a lumbar epidural steroid injection, which meant I couldn't drive (not that I would have anyway...that's another issue, the not wanting to leave the house, ever, thing, but one small step, you know?), so I was at home with things to eat that were GOOD FOR ME and my body felt all weird all day, probably from the anesthesia, but I like to think it was from the intestinal shock of actual nutrients.

Plus, there's that thing of feeling like a trim, graceful middle-aged woman with wonderful fashion sense who is stunned at every mirror to see this frumpy, lumpy person with formerly awesome hair that has become all dry and yucky-colored, and weighs about 25 pounds more in reality than in my imagination. How does that happen? 

And saggy. Gah! I don't like the saggy at all. I once heard that there are two ways to age...to wrinkle, or to sag, and I am definitely in the latter category. Any wrinkly people out there? Would you prefer the droopy-dog look?

*Sigh* , I don't think this post turned out to be very uplifting. Maybe the whole "getting my shit together" thing required a brain-dump. Let's hope.

Getting My Sh*t Together

For the last 8-10 weeks, my lower back pain issues have been roaring for attention, along with other things in my life, so I am on a short medical leave from work while I get my shit together.

In an effort to give some structure to my days while I am off, I am also trying to finish things.

I am a great starter of things. I only finish about 50% of the time. So, while I am off, I will be finishing the unfinished, and blogging about it, so you can see what a pathetic project person I am.

The first thing I finished was the painting in my bedroom. Handy Jeff had done the walls, ceiling and trim, all while the yucky carpet was still in place, to protect the pretty hardwood floor underneath. That meant that after (now) 20-year-old Boy took up the yucky carpet, there were bits that needed paint, very close to the new shoe moulding. Handy Jeff did the painting in August, 2011. Five months later, I finished the touch-up. That's actually pretty good, for me.

The second thing I finished was this, which I did yesterday:

22-year-old New Bride's kitchen, still has the original knotty pine cabinets, and built-in banquette seating. The vinyl on the seating was orange-and-white gingham, and 60-years-old. I found some vinyl on sale at the fabric store in a butter-soft mustard/gold color, and started re-covering them. Eighteen months ago. *Sigh* But now, the last two pieces are complete, and ready to be reinstalled, thanks to Handy Jeff and his nail gun. The staple gun was not strong enough to punch into the wood used in the construction of these pieces, which is why the project got put on hold for a very long time.

Hopefully, this blogging and finishing will not only give structure to my days, it will also keep them from turning into a haze of napping and Pop Tarts.

What's new with you?