Needs Improvement

Put together a new bookcase tonight, hammered the last nails in, and then placed it against the wall.  Then I noticed something wasn't right.  Can you guess what it is?

I'm going to pull out the nails and flip the back tomorrow.  At least I didn't have to use glue to attach it.  And I have plenty of extra nails if I mess up the ones from the package.

That's a scene from Modern Family on my laptop there, I was watching while I worked.  It strangely always reminds me of my own family even though none of the characters are much like any particular person I'm related to.

I'm doing way better than I have in over two years now.  My therapist thought I was doing so well that we agreed I could come for "as needed" sessions from now on.  That was almost a month ago.

I'll be doing Twilight Rummage Sale again this month, provided I can get a table.  I put the contact information here for anyone who wants to look into this for themselves.  Fun fun!

Return to Green Gables

April was a busy month and left little time to make some lasting impact on my housework.  When guests come to stay I use the office to throw all the random papers and supplies, so now I have to undo that mess.

This past week alone I was involved in several major events, including Stumptown Comics Fest and Gridlords.  There have been a lot of big things happening, including the announcement that I've passed ownership of the business I owned up until two months ago to my employee/business partner.  Also my birthday was yesterday along with everything else going on.  Now I feel like I can start catching up on some things I have put aside for a little while.

I admit that for the past month I've been blocked in terms of writing in here.  I was really on a roll for a while before that, with all the posts I completed.  It's hard to write about what really is just self-actualization silliness when there is so much going on in the world.

Today I'm handling the office, getting the stacks of papers and files off the floor.  Here's where I'm at right now:

I'm watching season 2 of Game of Thrones.  It was my birthday present to myself, along with a giant buttermilk donut from Blue Star Donuts.  Heaven on earth.

Outdoor Sports

I expanded my mission to encompass reaches outside of the house.  It's important to take advantage of the stretches of un-rainy weather where you can find them here.  I weeded out the planter next to my front doorstep and trimmed down the plants that were intended to stay there.  I had had a lush little rainforest flourishing there for a while, but now it's fully cleared out.  In my usual way, once I get started on such a project I want to keep on for a while, so I swept the front walk and steps.  I threw away the doormat, which was so enfeebled that it was growing happy green weeds.  I swept right down to the sidewalk!  I'm sure that the chickens next door are going to scatter bark and poop all over in a matter of days but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

The next day I took car of the car interior, vacuuming and wiping it down with those Clorox things.  It really needed it, what a disaster.  As I was taking garbage out from the far reaches under seats, it hit me more and more how I'd been driving around and unwittingly adding to the mess, and my friends who occasionally ride with me have to put up with it!  It's not perfect but it's a far cry from what it was 36 hours ago.  What I really need is a way to get pennies unstuck from the bottoms of the cup holders.

Tonight I'm turning my attentions to the inside of the house so I don't feel guilty about the times my neighbor walks through our shared backyard and sees into my kitchen.  I know she knows I haven't been throwing any parties lately so the mess that's there is obviously a result of my solo slovenly ways.

My big housekeeping goal for the week is to move the furniture around in the office so I can have a printer/scanner table next to the desk.  I really hoped I didn't have to move the file cabinet so soon but it has to be.

It seems like yesterday...

...that I was writing the three-month anniversary entry, and now here it is past six months since I started this blog! 

My sister suggested that I lay out some steps for my tidying procedures, which I think is a great idea, but they're very loose as you have witnessed.  However, I think the best advice I could give is just to start with one tiny area and work out from there.  Just do a little each day.  My methodology has not solidified much.  At the start I had to make sure my area in the basement was safe, and the same goes for the upstairs rooms.  It gets like a war zone.  Don't forget stuff that falls on the floor.  I have brown carpets and I've found a myriad of tiny sharp objects: hairpins, screws, earrings, thumbtacks.  It helps to have a bright flashlight to shine in the corners and under furniture before you vacuum or step. 

As for the basement work that I've resumed, it's getting along slowly.  In fact, I'm not sure if the change is even noticeable.  Here's an update photo of the room:

 And, to alleviate the seeming moribundity of that area, I give you the jollier upstairs office, one corner of it anyway: