adieu 2014

Monday:

It was a heavy lifting and packing day at work! Went in to Poulsbo and helped pack up the two stores. Took down the lights from the tree, put some things in boxes to be priced for the store and put other things in a donation pile. It was a cold windy morning and my jacket remained on through the day's duties. I even got a coffee and it put pep in my step. Bill came to help move some shelves. Nice that it's all packed up. The antique mall part of the job is done with for now. Back on site, we rearranged the garage and now everything is in neater stacked boxes AND the van can be parked inside. So a good full day of work. At home I got cozy and watched Almost Famous and had some pasta.

My milk has gone sour already. I can't add it to mac n cheese fast enough.

Tuesday:

I was so warm, so cozy. Hard to roll out of bed. Didn't manage it till after noon. But I did get up. Had breakfast and a pot of tea. Worked online. Washed dishes. I didn't light a fire, but now I kinda wish I did because the house is still cold. But I'll be in bed soon. Have New Years plans, but no plans at my house. No party happening.

2015. Finally. What a long year it has been. A year to remember. A year of growth and progress and change. A year with some loss.

seawalled in

I forgot that I already blogged last night.

Anyway, Ma Pa and I watched Star Wars on VHS last night.

We took a walk this morning out to the Navy point, which is built up more than it was in previous years. There is a gate around a new structure and it's more closed off. That's not much fun. I had oatmeal post walk and ended up helping with only three sandbags for the seawall retention.

I got the fire going and a chicken & garlic bread lunch was had. Hans headed out back home, as did Averie. Ma & Pa left before dark but did help tidying up. I might have a few mice roommates, so out goes the trap again.

I mellowed by the fire and relaxed and had a little peace and quiet. Christmas is over, New Years and 2015 approaches!

back home la la la

Back at Pulali! The house took some heating and fireplacing to thaw out.

Breakfast in Seabeck was hashbrowns and bacon. Packed up my goodies and clothes. Thankfully if I have forgotten anything, it's a short ways away.

Hans came over to Pulali for the night, and Averie too. The seawall got some repairs. It's washed out underneath, now that the main stretch of the seawall is gone.

Dinner was this rice thingy and rugelach and soup. Averie and I sat by the fire. I burned my finger on the fire. First fireplace burn!

I used some of the lavender scenty stuff that Helen & Nate gave me fore Christmas and it was so good smelling. Looking forward to using it more in the shower.

Now it's 8 but it feels later. Blogging earlier rather than later!

jolly but no holly

Christmas came and Christmas went! Oh how the people who attend and the places we go change over time. It was very much a lovely one here in Seabeck.

A good assortment of gifts were exchanged. Some from lists and some surprises. I got a Kate Beaton assortment of goodies! Actually I think I got all I requested, so totally spoiled: the Boat! shirt, the 2015 calender poster, the Roosevelt & Baker & Henry VIII mug. Awesome! I also got Wrenchies and Bobcat and Carsick. And toesoes. And chocolate. And little legos. And a scarf. And a globe puzzle that is really cool.

I worked on the puzzle on and off. And got more people to play Pandemic. And Danny came up and visited for a bit. And played Pandemic.

Dinner was salmon and rice and broccoli. Ma and Pa watched St. Trinians. I computered it up.

Did I blog last year about the changes? This year there is no Holly or Salvador. The house is different. Very changed. The whole vibe of life is changing. Traditions are different. Hmm.

I slept in, and Dad made PEOTwMC and coffee in the siphon coffee maker. It was old and broke during cleaning. A shame because it made a damn good cup of coffee and the same type of maker is expensive!

Nate and Helen stayed till 3 and then left for the airport. Then Ma went to her movie about Paramahansa Yogananda. I sorted out their NatureBox gift card and Dad made dinner. We played, and lost, two rounds of Pandemic. Love that game. I'm glad it is two player!

Tomorrow I return home and Ma and Pa are coming to visit and to help out with the ramp.

phone drama at present

Ahhh! Damn! So something happened to my phone. It just went dark when I left for work on Tuesday and it never turned back on.I didn't drop it or anything. It just...stopped turning on. Damn! But I paid the replacement charge so I should get a reimbursement. Still, how sucky! Today (Wednesday) on the way home I swung by the WalMart in Poulsbo. They said they can't reimburse and I must call and send my phone in, so I bought a phone for the same price as the reimbursement will be. It's slightly better in terms of features, but it's different and it'll take some getting used to. And while I have my SD card from my old phone, not all of my data backed up so I have to redo my contacts. I don't seem to have saved THAT to the cloud. Uhg. But hopefully I can salvage stuff from the sim card. Gotta be some service that'll do that for me.

Anyway, that was the downer part of these two days. I'm onto a Motorola from a ZTE, so a less burner brand of a phone.

Work was moving boxes and packing things and clearing up space. Lots of heavy lifting, but got that sorted away.

After work I went to see Aaron. Had a few beers, talked about pig butchering and phones and who the hell thought tipping arm rests was a good idea?

I slept in when I got home because I lacked the ability to set an alarm on my phone. I currently miss my old phone. I wonder when the loss of it's information will stop effecting me? Tech changes so fast and we adjust and new things occupy and are improvements. I got it in April, so it lasted oh...8 months? That's not exactly great, but hey warranty! And cheap tech is as cheap tech does.

Nate and Helen got me Pandemic for Christmas! I opened it early (oh and Celia liked the mug I painted for her at the paint your own pottery place, where I painted a John Finnemore and Edgar Wright mug for myself, I don't know if I mentioned I did that because I was keeping the present mum, I picked up the mugs on the day we saw The Hobbit) so we played it tonight! I reckon we'll play it a couple more times tomorrow. It's a two player. I wonder if Aaron liked board games? It's 2-4. And the good thing is, is all the players are playing against the board and not one another.

My presents are shabbily wrapped and under the tree. Nate and Helen are probably asleep. I'll tuck into bed soon. I'm the only one with a stocking this year. Mom declared the stockings stop at age 30. Damn that's harsh. Only four years left for me.

tuna good for you

Saturday:

Overslept my alarm clock. Well, I turned my alarm clock off and then it was noon. I got up and had some food and then darted off at 6ish to run a quick downtown Poulsbo errand and meet Ma and Pa and Celia to see the new Hobbit movie. I cried. I cried off all my mascara. I was a crying mess. It was a bit light, but really they had stretched out the book as far as it could go. It was a nice topper. But uhg gawd Fili, Kili, Thorin. WAAH!!

Sunday:

Worked on Christmas presents for most of the day. I think I have enough presents. Some hand made, som bought. People already have all that they need, and I'm not buying for as many people. And I didn't make a print for this year. I wonder where my life would be right now had I not left Santa Cruz. A different print, a different person. Hmmn.

Monday:

Worked from home. Updated my movie watching calendar. I'm sorry I've gotten so bad about blogging! I used to be so good but now I'm just not into it. But I'll keep going, because at the end of the day I do like having some sort of record of events.

I made the pasta tuna thingy for dinner. Half was eaten for dinner, the other half was set aside for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the box o' pasta tuna, Ma & Pa!

prezzies for y'all

My internet is coming and going. Has a long way to go over the canal.

Yesterday! I ran errands like a boss! I went to two different stores and got things for people, and a few things for myself. And I got my oil changed. They said it's all looking good, so that's good. It was rainy and dreary. Perfect for errand running. And I saw Force Majeure, which I was expecting to be a horror movie but was instead a relationship drama. It was refreshingly realistic though, with some nice shot composition and you know I dig Kristofer Hivju. It was long though, or rather it felt every second of it's two hours, which isn't a good thing.

Then I made a Trader Joe's run and then went home. The bridge was up, but only for a bit.

Today (Friday) I chilled out. Made a fire. Watched the Black Mirror Christmas special. Took a nap. Tomorrow it'll probably hit me how behind I am on holiday prezzie making.

happy birthday Celia!

Ahk! I'm three days behind again. Sorry.

Monday: I worked on site. Helped pack up things at work, and edit things, and get stuff online. Then I went to the stores and sorted and tidied it up. Then I went back up to Suquamish to see Aaron. We ordered a pizza and drank a couple beers and watched Galaxy Quest. How perfect is that? Pretty darn good in my book. I got home late and slept in later than anticipated.

I worked from home on Tuesday. Edited things on the site mostly.

Wednesday I worked on site. I made a few signs, edited things, The weather has been staying nice and mild. Not much rain, no freezes. I wore my Italian leather heel boots, black pants, gray long sleeve tee, black hoodie, and blood orange pleather jacket, with shell bracelet. I looked so badass.

After tidying up the stores, I returned to the Island and met Aaron at the Winslow Ale House. I was there are 6 and people were not due to arrive till 7, and he works down the street, so time for a quick pint. Hee hee hee. Anyway, he didn't meet any of the family. Celia arrived for her birthday hugs and I gave her these earrings I got at work that were perfect for her. There was live music, and at around 7:30, Brynne and Averie and Sally and err.... I forget the fourth person's name... arrived. Everyone is looking so good and fly this season! I had a salad and bread dinner, and this ice cream dish.

A nice night indeed. Can't believe Celia is the age that she is, as she looks great! A lady never narcs on someone elses age. I'm not working on site again till Tuesday, but I got hella errands to run.

And by hella errands I mean watching Force Majure.

time is running out

uHG gawd I just became massively congested. Don't know why. Maybe the ice cream? Though that doesn't make me congested. I've gone through several hankies now. Gross.

Worked from home today. Researched jewelry to the best of my ability based on the photos at hand. Celia gave me one of her treasured time honored seasonal wreaths. It's hanging in the dining room. I'll snap a good picture of it come morning.

Yesterday I went in to Poulsbo and worked on a gift. And I made a little something for me. Don't want to be to vocal about the activity on account of it being a gift, but I had a good time just listening to podcasts and doing my own thing. Swung by Seabeck and saw Ma and Pa (who went to a Star Trek convention today and didn't even ask me if I wanted to join them! How rude). I put a few ornaments on the tree and had salad and microwave chicken pot pie and chocolate. I gave mom my MP3 player, the new one because I was able to revive my old one.

Got home lateish, slept in. Got a late start on work. Now to tuck into bed and try to get some rest because my sleep schedule is all whack. Another exciting week! Christmas is almost here and I'm behind on EVERYTHING!

freeing up the flow

Two days from home. Yesterday I got more things on the site and I had udon and just weathered out the storm. The power didn't cut out, but it is washed out from under the ramp on the beach. And there's a large log that washed up. Hopefully it'll be gone next soft gentle high tide.

This morning (Friday) Celia & I cleared out the ditches. I scraped up leaves and she pruned out the berries that were creeping across and collecting water. The flow in the ditch was very much improved. No rain today! Hurray! Just blue skies all around. I watched The Birdcage for the first time. How was this my first time? It's so darling! I had popcorn for dinner.

Might cruise over to Poulsbo tomorrow to do a thing. I have some work to do, but it's more of the finessing side of things.

I think I'll go read now. I've been staying up late too many nights in a row. I have to try to have a regular sleep schedule.

Suquamishilcene

Oops! Slacking on blogging, but the past two days were working days. Monday I worked from home uploading photos to the site and whatnot. Just hung out at home and sat on the couch and blazed the fire and the house got oh so hot. Too hot almost. It's warmed up. 55 degrees. Very nice. Much better than it being frozen over, but it's also very stormy. Just so much constant, heavy rain. Is this worse than usual?

Tuesday the power came down in the morning, but after I had showered so that's good. I still managed makeup by the light of a lantern and table mirror. I got coffee on the way to work though, as I was so tired. The storm kept me up.

Photographed antiques and turned off the low stock notifications on the site. I left a bit early to spruce up the store and run an errand, and then I went to Suquamish to meet Aaron for dinner...at his place! He was cooking, and he can cook better than me. Which isn't saying all that much, but still! It was pork loin and cous cous and a side salad and a reduction sauce. A REDUCTION SAUCE! I was impressed. And his dog Banjo is super cute and lively, though wow it sure thinks it is a lap dog when it isn't. Banjo is a bit smaller than Corbie. So yeah, had a nice dinner but I was tired and didn't stay late. Sucks about being an hour plus apart. Can't just pop over to hang out. Gotta plan. Sigh.

Today I deposited my paycheck (yesterday I sent off my bills) and then did a much needed grocery run. I dropped off my recycling at Dosewallips, which was largely flooded in all the park bits of the park. I saw more rain in Mississippi, but there were breaks in the thunderstorm and it lasted a day.

Now I gotta make a trash run some time.

I worked more from home, and I still have work to do tomorrow at home. So I don't have to drive in yonder rain.

light red/blood orange

Saturday:

After sleeping in, I had an oatmeal and coffee breakfast and set up my tree. I did use the little onzen tub as per Dad's suggestion. With a brick, it gave my Christmas tree enough weight. I found a string of lights, but it's weird because half the strand blinks on and off, and the other doesn't! I added some bead strands, and ornaments. It'll be an ongoing decoration process. The tree is flat on one side, so it fits perfectly against the side of my couch end table. I moved the green chair over so it's now a second fireplace chair. It's a bit of a squeeze to get by the stripey chair, but it's all good.

Aaron came over for the day. We ate pasta, drank beer, sat by the fire, played Scattergories, and hiked on the property. Lovely time.

Sunday:

Slept in. It's very nice how the climate has warmed up a bit. I can tolerate 40 degrees, but 30? Bah! I need to make an eggs run.

I headed in to Quilcene with Celia and we browsed one of the antique's market. I found a blood orange pleather jacket that was quite fashionable. Very cute! She found an English garden shovel priced way below what it was worth (five bucks). Huzzah!

Back at home, I cleared out the spice shelf of all 20th century spices and made room for my Aero Press. I dumped the expired spices in my compost. I watched some telly. Ate some pasta. Listened to podcasts. Added decorations to tree. It's all good. Working from home tomorrow. Have some things to sort out.

tree thievery

Thursday:

It has finally thawed out a bit! The rain came and the snow is melted! It's less icy everywhere and that is grand. Worked on site and mostly photographed items. Did a lot of lighting riggings, and it's getting better session by session. I photographed a lot of jewelry.

And after work I met Aaron in Poulsbo for Pho! And we had pho and chatted till the restaurant closed. So that was nice. Got home at 10ish, but I wasn't working on site the next day so it's all good.

Friday:

Slept all the way in. Rolled out of bed, washed my dishes, made coffee, snacked. Mom and Dad arrived at around 1ish. First we set about getting the paddleboat off the seawall. Took some bailing of rainwater out of it, and then some muscle to tilt and drain the interior. It needs some patches lest it sink when we first take it out on the water. Hauled it up and trucked it up near the snipe, and I draped my tarp over it. The tarp that was under my tent on all those camping trips across the country. The dirt and dust of the country!

Then we got out rain gear and saws and got into the truck and off we went to Duckabush Road to bag ourselves a Christmas Tree. We got a permit to allow us to chop one down. We went far up this narrow road which climbed around the mountain. A forest service road that my parents were surprised at how well it was maintained. They found a good tree once we got to a fork in the road. I also stole a tree for my out decoration purposes. We threw them in the truck and secured them under a net and headed back down the hill to Brinnon. We grabbed an early dinner at Half Way House. Dad and I had the 2 for 1 steak special, mom the oysters. Mine was delicious and we all split a banana creme pie!

Mmmm. Food.

My Twin Peaks and Cornetto Trilogy sweatshirt and shirt arrived too! Well it arrived at my parent's house, they just had to deliver the packages to me.

I helped Dad chop down a stray driftwood log, lest it break apart the seawall in a bad storm. I returned Catan and Carcassone to Ma & Pa. They didn't stay the night. I did some of my work from home stuff. Now to sleep.

(psst, I added a Christmas list to the right on this here blog, it's mostly books in a variety of price ranges as you can see)

(what do YOU want?)

making those dolla dolla bills

Tuesday:

Major cold day, and there seemed to be some patches on the road, so I took it slow and got to and from Bainbridge Island with no incident at all. Not fun to be up so early when it is so dang cold, but oh well. I ran some Poulsbo errands first. Spruced up the stores and put in outlet timers and hopefully they work. At work I photographed items all day, which I enjoy doing. It's just time consuming. The set up is a little better now that there are posterboards instead of white cling film on a black table. So I did that, and headed home and had some noodles.

Wednesday:

Worked from home. Labeled photos, got items live on the store website, work work work! The slowest part is just getting the photos up on my internet connection, the rest goes pretty well. We have about 270 items up now, so that's good! So worked, planned a date for tomorrow, and worked some more. And took little dance breaks.

The tide isn't low enough during the day to look for the ladder.

And Mom, in case you didn't get my text a biopic about Yogananda is playing at the Rose at 1:30 on the 6th and 7th. Maybe something for you to do when you visit on the weekend? Or wait for Netflix.

I updated my movie calendar. Laggies is playing, but only for a couple days! Gah! Come on! The worst movies play everywhere. Now I don't know if Laggies is any good, but I know there are plenty of indie movies that I've had to go way out of my way to see.

Anyway. Working on site tomorrow, then a date with the geologist. Yaaay.

errander

Whooo! Got all the items with photos up! Now to add more items that have photos, and then to photo the items that have been priced and get it all up. Working from home whoo hooo!

I dropped my mp3 player in water and it was all kind of not working this morning. I had it in a bag of rice, but it seemed pretty dead so I popped into Silverdale and got a replacement model. It's not the Sansa model which I love, but I'll learn to adjust. Need my tunes. And it also has a ton more hours of battery life. And I got some pants at Old Navy for 30% off, whoo! Some nice black pants. Professional pants.

Also got oil for my car and poured that in. Errands afternoon. After the pants I went back home. It's snowy and icey over Kitsap, but my car drove well. Then I got to work, and now I sleep and wake up early and go to work. Working on site tomorrow.

bro tips

Thanks for the incognito window tip, Nate!

I'm sitting in front of the fire with my computer. It's very warm and I'm back to manually entering those two keys because I don't have a desk down here. But it is a welcome tradeoff.

Yesterday I went over to Celia's, who made a wonderful second Thanksgiving. Turkey, potatoes, gravy, beans. We noshed down and then watched Ghostbusters I & II back to back. I love Ray Stantz. I noticed something new in the first one, even! What a great time.

It got cold and now everything is frozen. I need more oil for my car. I'll probably drive out and get that tomorrow. They should have it in Quilcene.

It was so warm in my bed this morning, and my feet didn't thaw out till I got in front of my fire. I'm working from home tomorrow, and I've gotten a jump on it tonight.

I watched The One I Love on Netflix Instant, and it was so odd and great. I recommend it!

internet down

11/28/2014

Remember my complaint about not being able to blog while in Google? Well Nate gave me a tip to remedy that. But now my problem is my computer is failing to connect to the Internet. Is the signal too weak? What’s the deal? Uhg. Hopefully it remedies itself because I’d like to get more job work done over the weekend.

But Friendsgiving was a success! Amanda arrived at around 3, which was perfect. I introduced her to Celia and we peeled potatoes and got things ready and had some brewskies and chatted and played Yotta Know Birds (we don’t know birds) and Getting To Know You…Better, and we got to know each other better. Amanda is an absolute sweetheart and I hope she visits again. I’ll have to see her again sometime because she forgot her slippers!

We got up at around 9/10ish and she made coffee and I made eggs and we had a very protein breakfast to start the big day! First up was bread. We got that rising by the stove. Then cranberry sauce, which had to chill. Then potatoes. The three dinner guests: Heather & Daniel, and BT were all stuck in the same traffic, but arrived at 4 which was perfect! The table was set and food was brought out and Celia arrived with the turkey and we dished up and gorged and had seconds and ohh the potatoes and gravy I think were my favorite but all (yams, green beans, bread, stuffing, turkey, apple juice) was really good! And we let our belts out a loop and sat in the living room to chat. Celia returned to her cabin and fell asleep, like should happen on Thanksgiving. Karen came over with a pie for dessert and we all got a game of Cards Against Humanity going. It was the perfect crowd for such a despicable game. Phil arrived too! Which was awesome. He came up in the dark and through the rain! I was joyed at that. So much company. Amanda won the game. Karen departed for the night to go back home, and Phil crashed on the couch, BT took the garage bed, and Heather and Daniel took the master bed.

I was first up in the morning and got coffee going. BT made the bacon. Daniel made the cheesey eggs. We gabbed and woke up. The Portlanders (sans BT) all departed at around the same time to get back at a good hour. BT is staying another night, and we spent the day lounging and chatting and eating leftovers and taking a night hike with Carnegie (his little dog who is sweet but not keen on other dogs). And we finished with sitting by the fire with more conversation, which is just ideal. My DVD player refused to work, so that was a bummer for some mild entertainment, but I did get some drawing done.

It’s raining and dark and cold and snow is anticipated, but it’s not declared a storm. Hopefully come the morning, I’ll have Internet.

 11/29/2014

My Internet is back! It was reset over yonder and it now makes it over the water. Time to catch up!

A high tide and a rough storm has made my beach ladder vanish into the canal.

I had leftovers for breakfast and tea, BT had some banana bread and tea. We got a fire going and lounged by it whilst getting warm. The winds are VERY strong. Hopefully there are no trees on the roads. BT is off to hang with Meghan in Tacoma.

Now I get the weekend to mellow and nosh on food and it is back to work on Monday!

a tale of two accounts

Logging into Blogger requires me to log out of all my Google accounts, namely the ones that I use for work, so it is difficult to tandem blog while in the middle of working from home stuff.

Only Amanda is arriving today for Friendsgiving, and I'm stoked to get just one on one time to hang and chat.

Monday:

Worked on site again! Took lots of photos and have almost all the boxes taken care of. So many items, and now to label them all. Boss treated me to phad thai for lunch! It was delicious and we had a good conversation about the lack of education regarding those with visible disabilities. I left early to try and get to the antique stores to tidy them up. I hit some traffic though so I could only do so much.

Tuesday:

Worked from home! Took many hours to label everything, but it was much easier than the last label session. And I got in a few hours of loading photos and items into the store. There are a few things that still need photos, but I'll get to that. I made my grocery run. I'm down to just bread, potatoes, and cranberry sauce! Also stocked up on beer and cider and champagne for mimosas and other boozey items. Probably won't all get drunk.

Stayed up late getting work at home stuff done, still might put in another hour or two today. Amanda is on her way and I've been cleaning.

I AM THE KRAKEN!!

Friday:

Worked on site taking photos! Thought only a few hours of photos because I was also tasked to tidy up and add to the store displays. Photos so we can make the store look nice and pretty and all the items can be listed with the proper photos. I like taking the photos because I just listen to podcasts and snap away and I reacquaint myself with the merch I've spent so long pricing.

It was a drizzly, dreary day. Tried my best to keep the stuff dry, but it was still got some raindrops as I hauled the stock boxes to the antique stores.

So. The date? That date that I went on. We met at the Slippery Pig (points to him for being open to relocate at short notice because I thought I was going to end the day in Bills Point, not Poulsbo). Slippery Pig is just a place that I've seen next to Red Plantation. He arrived right on time (another good point) and it was a very nice first initial date meet up thing. Had a couple beers and a crowd formed and there was Friday night karaoke, so our conversation got drowned out a little bit but still it was enjoyable. And it was good enough that another meet up is to happen, but after Thanksgiving due to busy schedules. So yay! Nice it all went well with the Geologist.

Saturday:

So a half sunk paddleboat was drifting by, and while the coast guard was called to, I dunno, be let known that there is a boat in the water, I decided to go out and get it for my own. And I couldn't be bothered to haul a boat down, so I threw on my swimsuit and got in to the water an immediately regretted my decision because the Hood Canal is COLLLLDDDDD in November. Still. it was close enough that I daren't quit, so I swam and swam and hopped into the paddle boat and waved to the people who had showed up on shore. It wanted to capsize forward, so I had to lean back while maneuvering it it towards shore. Eventually I was able to hop out and walk it in. Orlando of the coast guard gave me my bathrobe (which was on the seawall) and he helped drain the boat and haul it onto the wall, but he didn't get wet and I did. My teeth were chattering when I got up to the house, and during my ample shower I let the tub fill so that my feet could properly thaw.

Warm and washed, I drove into Silverdale and got some tights and lipstick and eyeliner and hairdye and toilet paper at Target and I got a haircut at Great Clips. Just a quick trim. Trying this whole "regular haircut to reduce damage and let hair grow long and healthy" thing. Last time I dyed my hair, I had product already in it so I feel like it faded a bit too fast, so in the evening I dyed it again but on hair that had only been shampooed. I'll see how it looks in a month this time. Anyway, after Silverdale I went to Seabeck for a salad and soup dinner, and some lounging about. Mom found a fitness ball on the beach. A good day for scavengers! The layout of the house has been redone and the floor is hard, instead of carpet. It looks very nice and warm indeed! Good job Mom & Dad on the floor!

So yeah, returned home and did my hair.

Sunday:

Worked 1-7 on site, so I got to sleep in a bit. I was mainly by myself continuing to photograph items. I've got a good chunk done now, so tomorrow I'll start labeling and loading things. We'll launch the store real soon! I gave the Boss a teaser of my sea adventure on the phone, and she was eager to hear about it upon my arrival. So that was fun. Two days of uber work and then it is off to cooking and friendville!

column a column b column uhhgggblawhhh

Two more days of working from home and I've gone all cross eyed from all the data entry holy cow all this will be much easier on the second go around!

My back hurts too. Yard work did it in. It is feeling much better today but still, waaah! I don't like being in pain. My flesh is weak from the inactivity. I'll say that about being a screenprinter: I was sturdy in Santa Cruz.

Ate left over chili. Had some udon. Drank tea and coffee and hydrated and took a hot soak.

I offered to work on the weekend just so we can really knock out this store stuff. And since I asked for Wednesday off (well off from working on site) I want to get the hours in now, so that come Friendsgiving I can really go for it. Whoo.

Also I'm meeting someone tomorrow after work. An online date someone. A geologist of sorts. So if I vanish, that's where you should start investigating.

chill clear days

Ma and Pa didn't make me breakfast! Boo! I had to make my own oatmeal and coffee. We dropped off my recycling up in Dosewallips, and trash as well. Then walked out to where the clams are, but they were safe under the water and protected by the end of the season. Alas. It was a nice clear day. Ma and Pa left around noon and I worked on work stuff at home.

Today I worked on more work stuff, and was able to overcome some formatting issues! We are trucking along and it is going so well. I also got out the rake and scraped the leaves and twigs out of the ditched up to the Y. I took the scrapings and tossed those to the not ditch side. No flooding here!

It's crisp and cold and I'm working from home again tomorrow. Going to listen to hella podcasts, it'll be great.

OKC but not the city with the cool museum

I rejoined OKCupid and I'm already over it. Well besides two guys that initially don't seem like sociopaths.

Yesterday I made a food run while hungry and bought some junk food, but not too much. I got chili fixings and bread fixings. Made the bread, which took all day. Time to make and knead. Time in front of the fire. I found the bread pans after it was baked (they were behind the crock pot). It was denser than I'd like it. Next time maybe I'll do one loaf...or rise it properly.

Today Ma & Pa came over! I made chili in the afternoon and it was well crockpotted by dinner. It was a bit spicy and meaty for Mom's tastes. We played Uno and Dabble and Ma, Pa, and Celia watched Casino Royale. I hovered for some of the better scenes but wow that is a long movie!

I don't really know what else to say. Mellowed at the house. Got food. Ate food. Now it is 9pm and Ma and Pa are in bed and my computer is up here so I guess I have to go to bed too??

Amanda got Friday off!!

Wednesday I went to Bainbridge and worked on a chalk board sign and some display items for the Poulsbo store. Redoing the display all Christmas like. And I had time to price a few items, then I picked up the comics I ordered at Liberty Bay Books (Seconds and Tomboy! Two I've had my eye on for a while) and did a massive Trader Joe's run. The beer I like, Ninkasi's Sleigh'r, is back on the shelf! I should make a chili with it. Mmm.

Back home and oh boy it got cold real fast. Seems like it was in the 50's a week ago, now it's closer to the 20's.

Thursday I was in Poulsbo helping with the display. Hauling boxes, setting things up, doing more design work, and we popped into Bainbridge to pick up more stuff. Holiday rush! I bought a doughnut at Stuy's as a treat to myself. A doughnut shaped like a man. I bit his head off first.

Today I did a bit of design work. Got some stuff to work on over the next few days, but I'm not on site again till Tuesday.

Ahhh I'm so excited for Friendsgiving! Company and food and all this good stuff. I'll task myself to really hunker down on the menu and looking up recipes this weekend. Get a sense of what I need to buy.

gotta make a to do list because I've got some stuff to do

Captioned a few images and priced some dish sets from home. Slept in a moderate amount. Didn't go food shopping. Needa go food shopping. I'm going to do that tomorrow after work. Going to go to Trader Joe's and get the GOOD STUFF. Lit a fire. Read in front of the fire. Ate left overs.

Mellow day. Did some work. It was very windy but not rainy, so I guess I'll take that.

This black thing washed up on the shore. It looks like the black plastic of a shellfish tank/bed. Like, big and thin with holes for pipes?

Salvador went missing in the night. Poor kitty.

Working on site tomorrow!

Oh! I heard back from the hotel job, and while it was a positive call I declined due to having a job, but I did so in a way that if I no longer get hours at this job later on, I can call up and see if they are hiring because they said they'd be down to interview me again. So holla for that.

the price of things

Spent these past two days plugging away at pricing for shipping. Learned a lot about different rates, and I think I got a hang of it! I printed out the complete USPS pricing chart, though I did four pages a legal size paper sheet, so the type was VERY small but I could read it with a bit of a squint. It's proved useful. So I got the chart all filled up with shipping. But over time I'll add more to it. So much data! But oh I feel victorious, and my boss gave me enthusiastic feedback. I just hope it is right!

Yesterday I went into Port Townsend for a little movie date. We were going to see My Old Lady, but it was sold out, but two of Celia's friends (Jan and Jill??) mentioned seeing Birdman at the Uptown, which is a theater I hadn't even been paying attention to! We got our seats right as the trailers were rolling, so excellent timing. And what a relentless film! It never lets up but in a good way. Visionary, well performed, just all around great. Really happy I was finally able to see it, as it has been on my list for a good long while. Now to watch the calendar for Laggies, Whiplash, and Force Majeure.

We both had Elevated Ice Cream afterwards, and we both went with the delicious Mexican Chocolate flavor. So absolutely good!

Went to bed early, as I was feeling exhausted. But I was called to work from home, so that was a bonus. I've been feeling so worn out these past couple days, and now I'm feeling like my old self again. Now to tuck into bed. I'll set my alarm but there is nothing pressing on the docket.

Really wanna try making the New Orleans chickory style iced coffee. I had that in San Francisco at Blue Bottle with Robin, and it was SO GOOD. You make a vat of cold brew and dilute it. I need to figure out the Thanksgiving menu and practice the things I plan to make (cranberry sauce, bread, green beans...oh mashed taters). Some things I'm not taking care of, but some things I am. Did I mention I'm having a Friendsgiving? Friends for Thanksgiving! It'll be awesome, I'm sure.

shiny sinks and dolla dolla bills

Whoops I fell behind again!

Wednesday I priced from home. I got through a heap of belts and scarfs and gloves and other bits and bobs. It was nice to work from home. Thursday I worked on site again. Weighed. Priced. And got a raise! How awesome is that? Good to be considered so highly so immediately. Dig my boss, yes I do!

Friday I met Ma and Pa in Poulsbo. I deposited my paycheck and went and snapped up Clariel at Liberty Bay Books and put Seconds and Tomboy on order. We had a quick lunch. Pasta and pizza and a sandwich. Today actually had good weather! Bright but also chilly. Ma and Pa went to see some art studios and I went to get my tires changed...and it took two goddamn hours! I sat and read and bought some bath stuff in the store. But still, it took a while. But two new tires for my hoopty, that's good! Traction is good! I drove on to Port Townsend and got a great seat for the 7:40 showing of Interstellar. It had phenomenal effects, really nice wonderful great...wowza effects. But the story was also a bit too clean and meh it didn't really...strike a chord with me.

Worth seeing in theaters for the pretty but I'm not really eager to rewatch it. And I love me some time travel sci fi.

Today I loafed around the house. Ordered a third comic. Scrubbed the sink. Tried cleaning and seasoning the cast iron. Did laundry. Lit a hella good fire. Watched Doctor Who. Tomorrow Celia and I are going to the movies, and I've got some at home work to do. I'm feeling tired right now so I think I'll tuck in early. But yay for a cleaner home!

stop and go and stop

More pricing! This time old camera cases and fishing things. Scored an Eddie Bauer bag because it was a bit old and musty and dirty and not really resellable. So I washed it in my sink and I'm hoping it dries nice. I think it'd make a great bag for hiking art supplies.

I had leftover soup and it was delicious!

I got caught in horrible traffic on the way back. Took an hour to go the distance that takes 20 going in.

Tomorrow I am pricing from home! I'm excited about that. Just going to listen to audio things and google away! Nice to break up all the driving, because the commute days, wah! So much commute! But it's just to go through Poulsbo in case of movies or groceries or other errands. I could be commuting out nowhere.

Now I am very tired.

the 3rd

Look! No apologies! Got up, threw on tights, my orange palladiums, a skirt, a shirt, my hoody, my patch vest, a smudgey eyeliner/shadow in the crease eyemakeup look, and off I went! (with food to eat during the day of course).

Had a pretty good day. Priced a lot of plates and train stuff and odds and ends. Getting through boxes. Trying to keep to a 5 minute/item rate of pricing, but some things just don't come up. It's hard when brands and makers are not readily apparent. Still, trucking along! And I dig it. I work on site again tomorrow and once more on Thursday. I don't think I could do 5 days a week commuting (it is rather long even with audiobooks) but it breaks up nicely.

Celia made oyster and chantrelle bisque which we mixed in with this veggie broth and that was dinner and it was amazing and hearty and delicious. I plopped bread into it and ate two bowls then sat in front of my computers magnificently sated. And auntie gave me two servings for my own left overs!! I think that was the first time I ate oysters, but I dug it. I'm a more daring eater, and I'm all the better for it.

I'm feeling good about November. I'm working. I have a friend visiting this weekend. I've got a Friendsgiving in the works for the 27th. I've voted. Things are good, and I like it.

quadruple

I feel like I'm starting every entry with an apology being slack in my posts!

Thursday:

Worked on site pricing antiques. I wore tights and a red dress under my gray sweater, and I looked super cute. And I volunteered to help hand out candy on Halloween. It was rainy and dark. I saw Nightcrawler afterwords, and it was awesome! So dark and psychopathic and filmed so wonderfully. Jake Gyllenhaal was awesome. Got home late. Had some udon. Tucked into bed.

Friday:

The rain has let up a bit, but not exceptionally so. I got up early and did full vavavoom makeup. Brows, eyeliner, blush, tons of stuff. And I packed my vintage dress so that I matched the shop for handing out candy. I priced more antiques and stamps, and at 3:15 I left to hand out candy in Poulsbo. It was rainy but the parents had umbrellas and the kids had raincoats, so all was good! Tons of kids going up and down old town Poulsbo. Little babies, teens, I denied no one candy! At first not many came down the alley to Red Plantation, so I was being very generous. But we ran out at 5:45 (the hand outs went from 4-6) so it's all good! Saw several Boxtrolls. Many princesses and superheroes and Gryffindors. There was a cute Harry Potter across the street at Cups. A good time all around, and the Boss treated me to hot cocoa.

Got home and got a fire going and warmed up and texted another Homeaween celebrator.

Saturday:

Slept in! Hurray! Had coffee and my signature scramble and helped Celia un-wedge her boat off the beach and lift it onto the seawall.

Later on, Ma and Pa came over with food and fun. We hung out with Celia and friend of the family Linda, then dinner was salad and garlic chicken and garlic bread. I showed Dad my Aero Press. After food and conversation, we three relaxed and watched Chef. That movie needed less of a first and second act, and the third act should have been the movie. Not enough food truck or editing.

Sunday:

Ma and Pa and Celia showed me some hikes in the area. Hikes to take my visiting friends on. It was a nice damp day to hike and see some waterfalls. We got some clams at Hama Hama and that was dinner (with salad and broccoli). Ma and Pa picked 4 pounds of chanterelles in the morning. Their gluttony and greed knows no bounds! But dang did I like the fritata that Dad made. And I made coffee. And had dad make coffee in the Aero Press. A very nice day. Nice to tromp in the woods.

Oh! And we saw tons of elk! 30? Plenty. Big critters. And we visited Grandma and Grandpa's grave and cleaned it up.

And we told a few grim jokes through the day.

Now I'm painting my nails gray to match the weather.

midweek working

Two days of working from home. The learning curve is steep and it's hard to Google some things exactly. Got up early today (Wednesday) and drank cuppa coffee and worked. And I finished Darkplaces by Gillian Flynn. Reading reading, isn't it nice!

My pumpkin is due for the compost now. It didn't last long.

I made a grocery run. So ridiculous that it takes 2 hours just to make a simple grocery run, but I've got the time right now. And any commuting job I can double dip on errands.

I don't know what else to write. I listen to podcasts, I google, I collate data, I read, I try different coffee combos with my Aeropress (but not late in the day).

Anyway, gotta tuck into bed early. Working on site tomorrow.

a welcome break in the storm

Sunday! A day off! A day to sleep in, use the aeropress to make tasty coffee drink. I added honey and ice and the rest of my milk and it was so good. And it's so easy to use! Easy gadgets are my bag. Didn't want to bother with a pot or some of the more complex mechanisms. I hung out with Celia in the evening. Got lots of kitty cuddles. Had pizza and frank and beans. And then gradual cat allergies caught up with me, so I returned to my side of the beach and blew my nose copiously.

Monday! I had more of my tasty aeropress coffee. I'm using this "moka java blend" from World Market. I'm digging it! Iced espresso is my jaw. Today was spent taking data and throwing it into a spreadsheet for work. Took some time, but it's good to have. Well I say took some time, it was still less than an 8 hour shift at anywhere, and I could do it from the comfort of my own home. Tomorrow I was supposed to work on site, but the schedule was changed so I'm at home again. But I'll still probably leave the house as I need to get groceries.

Uhg, food. Gotta eat. Oh and I carved my pumpkin. I did one big standard pumpkin eye, but it was too big to add a mouth and stuff, so I just did a pattern of eyes. It's already a bit moldy and the house smells of old pumpkin. I put it outside and burned incense. Hopefully the smell dissipates.

The weather has finally eased up. More clear, less rain. And when it does rain it's gentle. The howling has reduced.

good things

Two days of work! Two nice full days of looking out at Bainbridge Island and pricing antiques and reporting in on account specifications for different sites. I bartered a gorgeous Okuyama woodblock print. And a few wool sweaters. Job perks! My Santa Cruz wardrobe was all tee shirts all the time, so I don't really have any good professional warm layers.

It's be raining so much! Unusually much! The house hasn't washed away and the power hasn't cut out, so that is good.

A varied thrush hit my window and died. I can't even identify a dead bird. Rachel Higara is the one who was able to identify it. In my defense, the guide books picture the bird as more orange in color, while this one was more yellow. I gave it back to the woods to join the circle of life.

I met mom and dad at Origami Sushi in Silverdale after work today. That was really nice! Got to chat and catch up, even though I did just see Dad. I guess this is the time in my life where I am really social with my family. And get free meals and left overs.

My paycheck (I'm getting paid!!) cleared, so I treated myself to an aero press, because I like gadgets and it seems relatively easy to use compared to other coffee making things. Also I can make a cup at a time, which suits me. Coffee takes me back to  my time on the road. I'm really looking forward to making myself a cuppa, running a bath, and drinking coffee in the bath and reading in the bath. Basically bath time.

I did a drawing of the actor Justice Leak (in his Halt and Catch Fire role) for inktober and he saw it! Someone @'ed him on Instagram and he saw the drawing and said "holy shit that's awesome!". Which is just too cool!

So, it's been a pretty good couple days.

tappa tappa tappa

Proper keyboard! Thanks Dad! It goes clack clack clack and all the keys work, though now I have to adjust to a raised keyboard, because the one on my laptop has flatter keys. And I have to relearn proper key uses, because some of my keys haven't worked for many many months. Ha!

Tuesday I edited the brochure and got my duties for the next two days. Pretty big responsibilities! It's a steep learning curve but it'll be good to know how to list things on websites and stuff. I also spent a lot of the day sitting in front of the fire while it burned. I read and snacked and drank tea.

I was woken up by the septic system high water alarm. I shut off the alarm, double checked the code, called Dad to be like "what the hell why would this go off, I haven't been running a 10 hour shower??". It's still a bit of a mystery because when he arrived the tank was very low. Dad dug out some ditches, and together we stretched out some drainage tubeing. I whipped up a little egg & bacon snack with my special Trill mocha as an afternoon snack for Dad the hard worker. And I resumed doing my work from home regarding finding a printer for the approved brochure designs, and then worked on setting up accounts and research and just reading through pages of stuff.

Then Dad & I went to the Geoduck Tavern for lunch. I had beef dip and tea, he had a burger and coke. We ate a bunch of fries, but he also got a salad. Healthy eating papa!

Work resumed, with a break for tea and laundry and inktober. I think I'll tuck into bed now, and start early tomorrow. Such a steep learning curve, but once I figure it out, whoo! I just wish some of these sites had upload tests.

I'm going to have a Friendsgiving at my place! Got a few confirmed guests. Can't wait! Something to look forward to.

good.

Oopsie whoopsie, I'm behind again. Left off Friday and now it's Monday. And my N key is out as well as my H key, so now I'm supplementing with an onscreen keyboard, which actually seems to go a bit faster. I hope I don't lose more keys though.

Ma and Pa came over on Saturday and brought food and Seabeck whiskey and their company! Dad gave me some tips on chopping wood, and I helped chop and stack. We had salad and salmon and played Skip-Bo (Mom won) and watched Hot Fuzz. Nice day. They also helped fix the leaking toilet. All it needed was a new seal. And for it to be removed and replaced...not the easiest task but Dad is super helpful! And he makes a mean mini omlette with local chanterelles. I was up early on Sunday, and so I got to work on my brochure for work! Did a few hours, got some feedback, then edited, then more feedback on Monday and more editing. After I slept way in....good to get the lethargic out.

Scanned family photos too. Lots of cute ones of me as a blonde wee baby.

So yeah, not a bad couple days. Good to have company. Good to have work.

pricing ties and plates

Another day working in the antiques business! I went to Christa's office, aka her house, on Bainbridge Island, and working looking up things on eBay for the prices the item has previously sold at. Checking dates and conditions and similar items. And entering the info into a spreadsheet. I priced quite a few really nice ties. Made me wish I wore ties. I ate apple pie for lunch. Apples are healthy!

It was nice to work with Seattle in my view, all engulfed in rain and gray.

The drive in was uncomplicated. I hit a bit of traffic getting to Poulsbo but it was fine for the rest of the drive. I have some at home design work to do this weekend. Only 5-6 budgeted hours. I like this job thus far. It's fun, it's varied, I'm learning new things, and seeing so many cute antiques!

And it feels good to come home and to relax from a day of work because there isn't the anxiety and guilt of unemployed relaxing. I'm only half employed, but once I find out about the hotel job, then things will go one way or another.

And Ma and Pa are visiting tomorrow! Though I have seen them many times in the past week so I don't know what we'll talk about. A tree came down and I don't know if I can deal with that on my own.

There is a moth at my window

Worked a from home 6 hour shift researching consignment companies. Lots of Googling. I worked the hours not till completion, because dang there was more I could have done! Some stores have really awful names, Google wise, for searching. Too generic.

Scramble for breakfast, coffee, then a pot of tea throughout the work day, and then a sandwich and a bath at the end. Working on site tomorrow!

Working and doing new stuff is so exciting and fun! I'm keeping my eye out for a butter holder because I know Mel wants one. And an apothecary cabinet, because I want one and Dad won't build one for me. Sob sob.

Whooo! It all came through!

Welp! I got a job! A tidbit part time gig, but it's flexible and nice and supplementary, and it gets the lead out while I look for something more long term and sustaining. It may not continue past Christmas, but for now I am stoked!

Met Christa at Ciups in Poulsbo for a chat and then she showed me the two antiques areas she rents, and set me to pricing and organizing. I'll be helping price and research and maybe do some design work as well. I've got six hours of computer work tomorrow, and I did four today. I'll fill out some W2's as well. So awesome. After work (I'm working!) I went to Seabeck and checked out the home renovations and Ma treated me to pizza. She took Salvador to the vet because Dad had conveniently made an appointment at the same time. Dad just can't be the bad guy in Sal's eyes!

Nice to see the changes. My childhood home is getting a much needed makeover.

Back home I relaxed, because all I can do now is enjoy the evening, get some rest, get up and put in six hours tomorrow, and wait to see about the hotel job,

jobly

Yesterday I drove in to turn in an application at a resort (front desk) and they apologized for being so busy and asked if I could come in for an interview tomorrow (today), to which I was like "yeah!". I opted out of turning in an application for pizza delivery. And the other job, well I'm set to have a sort of trial run tomorrow and see whats what. It's some sort of social media helper type thing. My interview went well enough today. Nothing confirmed, but I think I left with a good feeling? I just need to get my Port Townsend concierge skills up, if I get the job. I can do directions, I just need advice. So with an interview and a trial tucked away, I spent the rest of today (Tuesday) relaxing. I got a fire going, and read and drew a bit in front of it. I ate pasta and ice cream. I internetted. I generally took it easy. Nice to have a currently high application : interview ratio.

Yeah! So that is good. Need to get new front tires. And it would be nice if Dad, the auto guru, could drive my car a bit, because I'm not sure what might be a potential difficulty and what is just "uhg you're making me go up all these hills so early in the morning!"

The resort job comes with opportunities for advancement within the company, as well as the potential to relocate to other resorts, so hey travel! That appeals to me. I like learning and new challenges and stuff.

get a jeorb

Trying to use the internet. It's really bad and sluggish. Blugh. Applied to a sort of social mediay job. Pulled up a few "apply in persons" which I'll see about doing tomorrow. Pizza delivery? Could be fun. Get around the area. Though it is up in Sequim...but if it is only a few days a week? I can't be picky, I gotta get a job. Then I can work towards getting a better, closer job. And other stuff. I'm a good employee. I train well.

Anyway, worked on weeding through job postings. And turned the skull pendant I got in South Dakota into a cool big necklace. And chatted with Celia. And brought down some glasses. No fire stoking today.

I really liked today's Inktober drawing. See if you can find it because my internet is loading too slow for me to be bothered to find and download and copy it into here. I need to spend more time sitting and drawing landscapes and making art. Not having great internet is getting me away from the computer, so that helps.

first friend visit!

Slacking on the blog again! Sorry! I'm not up to much these days, so there isn't much enthusiasm in the reporting. Today I slept in and fought the urge to nap all day long. I tidied up, stoked a fire, read in front of the fire, hung out with Celia and watched some Call the Midwife. It was a rainy windy day, but it also cleared up here and there.

My friend Marcus came over, but didn't stay as he had to work early the next day. Nice of him to come out all this way though! We played Monopoly, caught up on the news, watched Spice World, and said our goodbyes.

I've just been loafing about. Gotta buckle down and get a job! WORK TRILLIAN! WORK!

Yeah. Just holding down the fort.

Roz!

Ma and Pa visited to help me haul the mattress back up to the garage, and I thought they would stay the night, but nope! Back to Salvador! I did get them to play Scattergories with me. And they brought me chocolate treats. I helped Dad get his phone set up. We are all of Verizon now! Yay! The boxes of books were relocated from the cubby. Mom apologized for making the tidyness of the house disrupted. At least she also complimented me on my little homey touches.

Yesterday I met Celia at 5 at Scampi & halibuts for fish& and chips. I had the two piece with some battered shrimp. I may not be a food snob about many things but you gotta make fried fish right. From food we went to Chimacum high school and saw the Roz Chast lecture. What an adorable, talented cartoonist! She was lovely. Great to see a woman who has cartooned for so many years. I saw a job posting today that was asking for a cartoonist and the compensation was no pay. NO WAY TO NO PAY! That is messed up.

It takes some time to sift through job listings and to cross reference locations to make sure it's within an hours drive. Did find some closer in postings. 

Right now I am considering dyeing my hair. Last time I did so was before Carmen was even married! I'm ready for a change, and the style is staying. Now to sleep and to dream.

ABC, Andrya, Brynne, Celia

I am by myself once again. Nice to have visitors, however brief. Nice to have meals made and all that jazz. Brynne rested long in bed each morning, but as the bed set up is deluxe, I'm glad she got much use out of it. Andrya made an awesome fritata with kale and mushrooms and other goodness. The weather could not have been better. I helped bring down the kayaks and Andrya and Brynne took lengthy paddles both days. Not so bad to haul them down with a bit of help.

Dinner was rice and curry and Celia came over and we gorged and it was amazing all around! So tasty. I had several servings. Something in red wine, the sulfates?, makes me congested it would appear, so I'm sticking to white. Or whiskey.

Brynne made this apple loaf, but it wasn't quite loafy enough so she left me the lot of it, which serves my taste buds just fine! It's more a flat cake than a loaf.

Lots of talk, gabbing, and more talk. Good that the weather is good and auntie was able to kayak!

And now to rest. Tuesday! Time to dust off the resume and really get down to job applying. Yay.

visitors!

Brynne is downstairs, Andrya is upstairs, and soon I'll be over in the twin bed, reading and retiring to bed earlier than usual. But that is good because I've had a busy day prepping! Brynny is recovering from hip surgery, so I pulled down my mattress and plopped it on the fold out bed, so she wouldn't have to suffer on the thin makeshift mattress. Easy enough to get it down, but I'll need help returning it up to the garage.

I swept, I vacuumed, I dusted with that rotating duster, I organized, I put things away. I brought the road table up, and I brought the narrow brown shelves down and up, as they fit perfectly next to the long dresser. I put books in them, and put board games on the shelves where those books were. The house is really looking tops now!

Auntie and Andrya arrived at 5:30ish and got to making dinner of salmon and toasted olive loaf. Celia brought over a veggie medley and ice cream and bundt cake. Nums were had all around! Celia and Brynne lounged on the deluxe downstairs bed, and we all chatted. I drew my inktober. Now to bed with us all! Tomorrow is a new fun day!

hankies are my friend

Turned in a resume to an inn looking for a front desk person. Then I picked up some hankies at Quimper's. Is that the place that was where Swain's was? Anyway. hankie town!! I caught the matinee of Gone Girl at the Rose Theater. Damn. Rosamund Pike is just amazing in it. She is such a good actress and this movie just absolutely, brutally shows her range and skills. And it is a nice looking movie, well acted, well directed, well adapted all around, but DAMN Pike!

I got out of the theater when there was daylight, and drove into a gorgeous matte mottled sunset, and got home at dark. I washed my hankies (I handwash them in the sink with detergent, give them a little drying nudge in the dryer, and the let them hang on the rack for the rest) and washed the dishes. Tomorrow auntie and her friend are coming, so I'll be cleaning and tidying in the morning/afternoon. There isn't much to do, just general organization and getting some of my clutter out of the way, and doing a vacuum.

I stacked some brick shelves in the dog room, and now it looks super tidy! I didn't stack them that high, for fear of them maybe toppling back into the glass and, you know, shattering it.

A really productive day! Though just under 2 hours of it was spent driving to and from Port Townsend, which would suck to do if I got a full time job in Port Townsend, because there goes a decent chunk of my day. But hey money! I'll take it if it is consistent and it pays.

dust jackalopes

My internet has been on the fritz all day. Like, really slow and it takes a couple refreshes, but then it'll load real fast. 

Anyway, I got out of bed before 10! I normally doze in for a while in the morning, then get up and get to it. This morning I woke up with a purpose: assembling my books into the library that they want to be.

Now Mom and Dad, if you don't like reading about me making changes, then maybe skip this entry.

Anyway, the first step was getting the clutter out of the way on the floor. I boxed it up neater, I boxed up the books on the stairs, and I put these boxes on the full bed in the nook. I might move them out to the big bedroom once Auntie and Guest are gone. Then I hauled down my boxes from the garage. I used the wheely cart for the garbage bins. It took I think 3, maybe 4 trips to get all the boxes down and up to my room. Then I pulled the books from the boxes and put them on my bed. I only needed 2/3's of the blue shelves for my books, because I just in turn filled up the boxes that had my books with the books from the shelves. Now they have been prepulled and are just waiting for the proper organization come the wall shelf construction that will happen...some time. I had a pasta break for lunch and an udon break for dinner and YES I am aware that those are both noodles.

Oh, I started the day by drawing Celia's cabin for Inktober.

Anyway, the dust that was kicked up was just blergg oh my god! I'm so congested, it's horrible. Four hankies soaked! I can now measure my congestion in hankie soakage.

My books are now in an order of comics, indie comics, non fiction, fiction in small paper back, fiction in hard cover, memoirs/biographies, and authors that I have multiple works of are in their little groups here and there (Palahniuk, Atwood, Gaiman, Roach). I'm pretty pleased to have a large dynamic ME element in the house. I'm excited to sort more books, so that they can be easily referenced. Plus there are some nice vintage books and literary journals, but they are stuffed in out of any sort of order.

Just going through the house will be good, because it stirs up the dust and gives the overall atmosphere a "touched" feel.

And Ma & Pa if you read this, I boxed the books with much care. Don't call me to nag at me.

Tomorrow I plan to take down some brick and board shelves for the mudroom, and set those up for things like shoes. And clean and tidy because hot damn I am having guests!!

inktober begins

I left the house today! Woohoo! Also the "h" key has stopped working on my keyboard so now I must copy and paste the letter when I want to use it. Well control+V it in. Oh well.

I left the house today! I went to get gas and groceries. I was almost running on fumes when I got into the station in Quilcene. Filled up. Very chaching but hey, I'm not filling up every day anymore! So that is a good thing. Then I went and bought some snap peas and instant coffee and emergen-c and shampoo and other stuff at QFC. It was a gray day. Gray and a little bit rainy. I finished reading Sharp Objects and made some brownies and gave Celia back her bowl.

October means Inktober which means an ink drawing every day. I did one today. I'll try to keep it up. I'll scan and post it....later.

adventures minimal

Sorry! I'm behind on this blog once again! I'm just chilling out here and letting my toe heal. It hurts significantly less, though it is still a bit swollen and it sticks out just enough so that wearing shoes is uncomfortable.

On Sunday we took the raft out of the water after an afternoon of shoveling mulch into buckets and spreading the buckets around the flower beds and plants. That's good groundskeeping! A nice steak dinner was had and Ma and Pa headed back to Seabeck to give Salvador his treats.

Monday I read Sharp Objects and ate left overs. I swept up all the dirt Ma and Pa tracked in. I watched The Thomas Crown Affair with Brosnan & Russo. An awesome remake. Very fun with lots of art and caper entertainment.

Tuesday I read more of Sharp Objects. A good lil crime novel. I was sitting by the wall heater and it was turned on and I took a nap. That's a good thing about living by yourself: you can just take a nap on the floor. I'm now inquiring into how to repair my Hockney book that got damaged during my roadtrip (too much time spent being sandwiched in a bag made the spine dislodge).

Can't believe September is over! I've been off the road a month now! I need to make a list of trip related art projects before it gets too far in my past.

dogs

Friday: slept in. My toe is less red and swollen but still hurts. Kept it bandaged. In the afternoon, Celia and I went for a little mushroom hunt. Got a few, but not many. The slugs got to others. Later I took another walk in the woods in the rain. It was very, very rainy. I watched Dear Zachary and it absolutely slayed me. What a depressing, tragic movie! Holy crap!

Saturday: Didn't sleep in so much, as I had to be out the door at 1pm to meet Ma and Pa for The Boxtrolls. I tidied up, had breakfast, and was out the door! I overshot Poulsbo because I didn't know there wasn't a Finn Hill Road exit heading to Silverdale, but I got there on time. Loved The Boxtrolls! So imaginative and fun and creative and just comical too. I loved the character designs. I recommend it! We got thai food for lunch and then back to Pulali! Showed Ma and Pa the dramatic changes I've made and then we settled in to watch Bubble Boy. One of mom's favorites. Tomorrow the raft is coming out of the water.

Here are some dog breeds that I think are cute:

• Kooikerhondje
• Norwegian lundehund
• Leonberger
• Schipperke
• Swedish vallhund

the waiting game

So apparently it is Berenstain Bears and it's always been Berenstain even though I and everyone I know remembers it as Berenstein. Our universe collapsed and this is the nearest safe one, I guess. It's so weird to be in an alternate universe. They are real!

Anyway. My toe is still a bit weird (did I mention I possible broke my pinky toe?), but I've taped it to the next toe and it isn't bugging me. Keeping it out of shoes helps. I was able to vacuum and tidy and take out the compost and all that. I'm not totally bed ridden, but I don't want to push it.

It's been raining, so that's good for the plants.

I'm halfway through The Magicians and I continue to be frustrated by it.

Oh! Job interview! I think it went well. As well as I could hope. Interviewed with both Kristen and Rob and I think I left a good impression. Fingers crossed because I'm right now being very lazy in applying to other jobs....

I'm ready to work though. Ready to build up a new routine and life and things.

lunch and second lunch

Just dropped "The American Art Book" on that maybe brown recluse. I think it had made a home in the curtain, because when I unfurled the curtain, it suddenly showed up. The carpet has a lot of give, so I don't know how dead it actually is. I'll maybe pile some more books on it before I go to bed and leave it as is.

When I was descending the stairs last night, my foot slipped to the side and my pinky toe caught the edge of the stair and twisted up. It still hurts, and it is very red, though just on the red side of purple, so it's not really so bruised but maybe by tomorrow? I don't know if it broken. I can touch and move my toe a little bit with just minor tenderness, but yanking on it really hurts. I'm icing and not icing and keeping it elevated. I can still sort of walk on it. Shoes will be an interesting thing tomorrow.

Monday in Seattle was super fun! We left the house at around 10:30ish. I rested my eyes a little bit. Dad stopped at one marine store, and then we went to this other where he met a dude who bought the old stove from the new boat. Then we went to another marine store in Ballard and bought a better stove and some tubing and other boat stuff. Boats need a lot of specific stuff! We swung by the Fremont Troll, which had some ugly defacement on it. And we got lunch at Ivar's and Dad fed a fry to a starling. Mom & I split a five piece order of fish and chips. Dad got some clams. I love me some Ivar's fish and chips. I could eat so many more of them. Then it was Ikea time!! Ikea for Billys for Ma & Pa. Ikea for frames for me. And a rug and some other odds and ends because wheee Ikea!! We stuffed everything into the van, and then got meatballs and cake and salad and panini for a later lunch. Need our energy for the two hours back to Seabeck! I chilled at home for a bit. Got some tea. packed up my car. Ma and Pa are working on the house, so things are being rearranged and moved about. New flooring! So long green and blue, it's been a few decades.

I swung by Target and grabbed a couple 18x24 frames (marked down) and 8x10 (also marked down) and headed back to Pulali. Injured my foot, but thankfully it was right before bed so I was able to keep it elevated right after initial injury. I slept in, had some cocoa and read for a few hours, had some pasta, put the new black ink cartridge into the printer. Fiddled with my resume and tidied it up and printed it out and it looks so pretty. I scanned some interview tips.

In a way having the injury is good because it was able to distract me from being nervous. Who can be nervous when maybe your foot is broken?

So yeah, pile books on the spider and go to bed and go to interview at noon!

Wish me luck!