A Time For Everything

 

On a recent trip to Target, DD and I came across a plethora of gingerbread building kits and I'd been reminiscing about the faux gingerbread houses of previous Christmases and how it's been a while since I'd done one. You remember my redneck gingerbread house from years past and GI Snow, right? I can't remember the last time I did this but it's been a while...

I verbalized the thought that maybe I could recreate the row houses and DD was like "Or we could just buy this." So we did. :0) We'd planned to work on it over Thanksgiving weekend, but that didn't happen. So new target will be a couple of weekends hence.

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Came across this on X/Twitter last week and thought it pretty damned amazing--enough that I wanted to share it with you all...

This is Jim Thorpe, first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States...He represented the U.S. in Track and Field in the 1912 Olympics. Look closely at the photo, you can see that he's wearing different socks and shoes. This wasn't a fashion statement.

According to @fasc1nate on X, on the morning of his competition, his shoes were stolen. Luckily, Jim ended up finding two shoes in a garbage can. (Luckily??!!??) That's the pair that he's wearing in the photo. But one of the shoes was too big, so he had to wear an extra sock. Wearing these shoes, Jim won two gold medals that day.

Sadly, the rest of his life was tragic for many reasons, but this just goes to show that where there's a will, there's a way.

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I've been working on cleaning my home office in preparation for rearranging. I had too many things crowded in my 10' x 10' space and it was getting to me. Having an L-shaped desk sticking out into the middle of the room hasn't helped, and I may end up with an arm of it still sticking out, but maybe in a less obtrusive way...

I also wanted new fairy lights-- The ones in the living room have worked great. They've been up for three years now and are still burning brightly morning and evening when the timer turns them on. I attempted to buy similar lights for my office, but basically didn't get the correct ones so back to the drawing board. I have to go hunt down that Amazon order and go from there. :0)

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This past weekend, I also put up my tree... I bought an additional string of lights and spare bulbs so we have a tree with lights (not on when I took the picture) but no ornaments...I'll be working on that this week.

And the HOCKEY TREE is back!! Or will be once the hockey-related ornaments are added. :0)

Have a super week. We'll catch up in a couple of weeks.

Take care.

 

I'm loving it, to be honest.

The room isn't finished by a long shot, but the desk is in place and I'm slowly deciding what comes back into my office space. I've sorted through quite a bit already. Some is getting packed away for future consideration, but some is being thrown away and some is going to the donation station.

With everything going on my life, clearing out unwanted stuff helps lighten the load. I'd read or watched something a while back that posited that even though we may love a thing or things, it still weighs on us because we might, for example, still have to dust/clean it. It still requires thought/brain power. So I'm trying to reduce some of that clutter--both physically and emotionally and "thinkily." I can't think of the right term, so I hope you understand what I mean.

Mom's arrival has also displaced certain things in house / life, such as my charging station. I have a small plastic hook situated over one corner of the dining room bench seat where all my charging cables hung. The little charging bricks, along with my air pods and my Bluetooth speaker, used to sit lined up along the back of the bench. When I needed to charge something...I chose the appropriate cable and the correct charging brick and plugged it in.

Well that's not available anymore because that's where Mom has taken up daily residence. So my new charging station is now on the shelving side of the desk where I've placed new hooks and have a plug-in USB hub.

Any who... here are the before and after pictures of my space.

BEFORE: The pics were taken from the door.

This last pic was taken from behind my set-up. The door is to the right.

If you want to see the pics of my empty-ish office, click here...

 AFTER:

Notice the lack of red, white, and blue lights now. A section of one string burned out and when I went to flip the string around, the whole thing wouldn't light back up any longer. So I need a new set of lights. I'm hoping for one long one of the correct length, rather than three I have to string together with the big mangled "knot" of connecting ends hanging on my wall.

See that shelving unit on the one side. I love that. It was a selling point. That lamp won't live there forever. Gonna move it to the corner behind the dog bed (I'll put a cube shelf thing there) once I buy some better lamps for the desk area.

I still have some work to do, but it's coming along and I'm much happier, more comfortable, and much more productive.

Have a super week...

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P.S. ~ The Colorado Avalanche swept the Oilers and now I'm waiting for the results of the TBL / NYR series.

C'mon, Rangers!

I took this pic Monday at the gym...note the temps. This morning they were 108* and 109* across the board.

Yikes. I have given up my moratorium on carbs and have utilized the power of ice cream to keep cool.

I had to.

On another note, I finally got an official computer/desk chair for my home office.


I'm not sure what the urgency was, as I've been sitting on a sewing table stool for these many months since I got the PC in my office...

I mean, I borrowed Dan's office chair the other day--for the first time ever--and he was suddenly worried there was going to be a fight over it all the time. I don't even like his office chair. I just needed something cushy that one evening.

The next day (Tuesday morning) I was dragged off to Office Depot for a new chair. I'm not really complaining. I like the new chair. We had some extra funds. I needed one.

So anyway, how are you doing this fine summer day??

I work from home each Tuesday and Thursday. For as long as I've been doing that, I've worked from Sonshine's old room/DH's home office because there's a nice desktop and two monitors which, I confess, I'm spoiled for now--especially when doing the day job. It's just so much easier with two monitors. I can have browsers and applications open and I don't have to flip back and forth between windows and applications to do things like reconcile bank accounts. I have my bookkeeping software open on one side, the electronic bank statement on the other. Easy peasy.

All I had in my writers room was the laptop and working on much of anything but writing on that single screen was a challenge.

The issue with me working on that PC in DH's office is that if DH wanted to work from home on a Tuesday or Thursday or come the weekend when I have things that just need a desktop and two monitors to work on--like a chapter contest--well, two bodies, one PC... You see the challenge.

So the plan has been to get a second desktop and a second pair of monitors for me and, though it's taken a while--money's been tight, it finally came to pass. I am now able to work from my own office with my big windows and all my stuff and with two huge monitors. DH can do his thing on the weekends and I can do mine.

Another benefit of this is that I'm generally cold-natured and my office is way on the other side of the house from the AC unit, also on the west side and getting afternoon sun, with enough AC venting to keep me comfy but not freezing. :0)

I spent the weekend getting the new PC loaded up and setup with software and browser links to all the stuff I access on a daily basis and tomorrow, I'll be sitting pretty.

I also had to buy yet another dog bed... The dog is where I am. In DH's office, she sprawls across Sonshine's former bed, now her bed, that functions as a guest bed when we have visitors. My office has no such amenities, and sleeping on the laminate floor has to be her choice. I also ordered a window perch for the cat, because, yeah, I'm a sucker for my critters and I like having them around.

Good news! I get to transition into working from home again. If you remember, I'd started working from home back in mid-summer, but got called back to the office to help keep an eye on our new employee. Well, he's no longer with us and so I get to start working from home again.

There's a balance that needs to be worked out, but we're beginning with two mornings from home. That's been a nice change.



I love my husband, I really do, but our personal energies are very different and I'm very much an introvert, so being around people 24/7 wears me out. Being home in my personal, comfortable space helps restore balance to my inner universe. And that goes a long way toward maintaining my emotional health and well-being. I can feel a difference in just the two weeks/three work-at-home mornings I've enjoyed.

Of course, all I have is my laptop now--my work PC had to go back to the office when I did, and until we can get a second PC that will allow me to remote my work PC while it remains at the office, directly on the network, I can only do so much from home. Another reason for the slower transition.

But I'm not complaining. I'm just happy to get the process started.

This past Monday, I started working from home! If you've been reading this blog, you'll remember I mentioned my desire to do so and boss man's agreement. Things had to be put in place, like IP phones that work over the Internet, so that I could still answer the phones. That was implemented several months ago and they work quite well. Next was a matter of reaching a certain milestone--summer fireworks season. Well, that's come and gone too. But we hadn't gotten back around to the conversation.

That is, until the AC at the office went out. Unfortunately, we can't afford to repair or replace the unit, so we've had to put some stop-gap measures into place. But due to the way airflow works, the front office was still getting close to ninety degrees every afternoon. It was zapping my energy and rendering me so sleepy it was difficult to work.

Boss man decided to move me home and our other employee into the back area where it stays much much cooler.

It's going to take a bit of adjustment because my files are still there and the post office box is still in the business park. I probably make a few trips a week into the office to check mail and have meetings and file things.

But being at home, I don't have to dress up and I'll reduce gas consumption.

Here's my work space...


Needless to say, I'm very excited about the change of venue and about the fact that finally one of my plans has come to fruition. With Sonshine not heading out to basic training until end of October and DD's plans of moving out in flux, I feel like I'm in that holding pattern again.

And maybe I just need not worry about them and do what I need to do. Must ponder...

Have a great Wednesday!

For about 4.5/5 hours Saturday morning.

I think it started somewhere around 4am, though that's a guess, and it rained until 8:30/9am. It didn't rain as hard as I would have liked for all that time, but beggars can't be choosers, I know.

Saturday remained "cool" only reaching the mid-80s temperature wise. Sunday was a little warmer, though I don't think we broke 100*. But today we're back to triple digits.

The house is 98% done. Now it's time to put it all back together. My FIL starts a new job today and will return next weekend to finish up minor things.

Tonight, I'll go over my new bedroom floor with a couple of coats of Mop n' Glo before moving my furniture back in there. I'll dust my ceiling fan and all the shelves and decorations. Then each piece of furniture will also be wiped down before it gets to return home.

Unfortunately, our bed money had to be spent to buy additional boxes of flooring, so no new bed anytime soon. :( I will have to buy new sheets though.

Once we're back in our room, we'll work on getting Sonshine's room put back together. His room & furniture will undergo similar cleaning in the process. Despite his penchant for falling asleep on the couch, he is looking forward to getting his own bed back.

I did get to enjoy my writing room yesterday though my bed's still in it and I didn't actually write. I cross-stitched and listened to music. It was nice and cool and quiet. :)

Pictures tomorrow.

I really wish I didn't have to work today...I had the day off yesterday and now I'm looking at a holiday weekend. But the first of the month brings necessary tasks at work and I will attempt to get some of them done.

Yesterday, I met with two of my critique partners. They came to my house to get something accomplished, which they both claim to have done. Now me...it's my house and I work differently at home. I didn't get as much accomplished as I might have had my CPs not been around. But that's not to say I didn't get anything done. I got a little done.

Similar to my friend Regina, I work on a timed basis. Usually in 45 minute cycles. :) I write while (say) the washing machine runs. Then I get up switch out loads, use the restroom, refill my beverage if needed and get back to work. Or I sweep and dust or do dishes or clean the bathroom, etc. I could *so* be a stay-at-home mom/wife/housekeeper/writer if only I a) I didn't have to work and b) could come up with decent plots to keep me in story ideas.

Unfortunately I do have to work and I struggle with plotting.

I'm in the middle of revising a short story, working to get it long enough to be classified as a novelette, at least 7500 words. That won't be a problem. I'm at 6300 words and (only) through the second chapter out of five. I think I'll surpass my goal quite easily.

I'm alternating that with revising my young adult novel, of which the first chapter has been made available to my CPs. Unfortunately I'm not sure when I'll get any critiques back.

I'm incredibly lucky in that I am usually a fast worker (in my writing endeavors). My day job allows me a lot of free time to write or revise or critique. Unfortunately the members of my critique group are not similarly blessed and I usually have to wait for them to write something for me to read or to critique something for me. Someday I may be able to find someone who can keep up with me. :)

Anyway...I made no progress on my writing room yesterday. The day before however, though I really didn't feel like doing anything, I did accomplish most of what I planned to do. The door molding received its second coat and looks much less streaky. I think a third coat will take care of the rest. The seams around the wall have been DAPped and all looks quite tidy and lovely. I didn't make it to The Home Depot for outlets but seeing as how I don't do electricity they wouldn't be switched out till after the holiday anyway, and I did get part of a third coat on my brackets and peg rack. Oh, and Sonshine installed the door knob so I can keep the dogs out.

Next up will be the floor. I'll have to scrub it good and clean, down on my hands a knees. Scrape up all the paint I've dribbled and then I think the first coat will be a clear coat.

So now let me get on with my day.

See you Tuesday with some fireworks video.

...on my room. I didn't do TOO much last night, but I did something. Which is better than letting it come to a standstill again.

I painted the door molding, one coat. It's still a bit streaky so I'll have to take care with the second and possibly third coats.

I touched up the wall right underneath the chair rail molding where I inadvertently kept brushing against it with my white paint brush while I was painting the molding. I'll check it tonight and see if I've completely covered all those white spots.

Tidied up the paint job on the molding around the white wall. See the wall isn't an original wall. We built it to create an office many years ago before we moved into official office space and gave that room to our older daughter. And we used paneling rather than sheet rock which would have needed taping and bedding. So that means there's a strip of molding all the way around the wall to hide the seams. (It was cheaper and easier at the time and money was much tighter.)

I didn't give a third coat to my accoutrements--the peg rack and the shelf brackets. Just didn't feel like it.

Tonight--more DAP around those aforementioned seams,a second coat on the door molding and possibly a third coat on the shelf brackets. I may also stop at The Home Depot to buy pretty white outlets, outlet covers and a solid plate cover for a spot where there used to be a switch.

After all of that...it should be time to work on the floor. That's the part I'm excited about.

I have some lovely flower pictures from a calendar that I'm going to frame and hang. I'm going to get some pretty white shelves and a pretty white desk and chair. I'll need some cushions for my two wicker chairs. And I have a lovely green bookcase that will be moved in there once the floor is done.

My son, not me.

For his efforts of unpacking/stocking the fireworks we can't sell this year and for which he will not get his usual payment as if we were open and able to sell, we bought Sonshine a skateboard.

He was up and out of the house at 6:45 this morning to skateboard with his buddies. YAY!

As for me, I finally got the last wall in my spare bedroom, which we have decided to turn into a computer room/study, painted. One coat, but it looks so much better. My plan is to add the second coat tonight, as well as work on a second coat to all the trim. I also started painting the wooden four-peg rack I bought and the wooden shelf brackets.

Once the wall and molding are done, it'll be time to work on the floor. I've decided just to paint a rug. I'm going to leave about nine inches of the current flooring showing around the edges and paint the middle like a square rug. It'll be white with a colored stripe about 4-5 inches in. Or I was thinking of splattering the colored paint for an abstract pattern, but I'm not real sure about that yet.

I'm excited because I'm almost at the end of this project--the urgency has hit again now that Sonshine's home. See when his friends spend the night they are all over the living room, and when I get up early on Saturday & Sunday mornings, I have no place to sit and drink tea and read or write. Plus hubby wants home office space. He may get it, but it's going to be on my terms and look a bit girly. :)