The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

"In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness that starts to set in about 2:55, when you know you've taken all the baths that you can usefully take that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the newspaper you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul."

- Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I think this describes every one of my weekends that I spend home alone.

Saturday was productive. Sunday morning was productive. The beginning of Sunday afternoon was productive. But now? It's 10:00 at night, I have to get ready for work tomorrow, and my house is still a mess. A different mess than it was on Friday night - I did accomplish quite a bit this weekend - but I also half-finished a bunch of projects that are now strewn about the place.

Saturday Craziness

Accountability status report:
I have completed 4 of the items on my ATDL, and am partially through 2 more. You'll have to wait to find out WHICH items though!

On Tuesday when the office was still closed and I needed to work remotely but still had no power at home, I went down to Merrow's to make use of her heat and electricity and laundry facilities and ability to make tea and other hot beverages. Thanks to her for both letting me come crash and also for reminding me just how much I love hot mulled cider (in addition to my beloved hard cider) AND for telling me what I need to make it. Tasty and relaxing and perfect for just before bed as there is no caffeine in it.

Hot Mulled Cider
1/2 gallon of fresh apple cider
small quantity of orange juice + half an orange peel OR one whole orange cut into 8ths
half a lemon peel
2-3 cinnamon sticks
a bunch of whole cloves

Dump everything in the Crock Pot, set it on low, walk away for several hours. Come back to warm apple-y goodness. I scooped everything out with a slotted spoon and then poured into a pitcher and put in the fridge. Reheats in 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Merrow's cider had fresh-squeezed OJ from Whole Paycheck and the orange peel. I shopped at the low end grocery chain, so made do with chopping up a navel orange. And I bought a lemon but completely forgot to add any, and the cider is still good. Not quite as fabulous as Merrow's, but still delish.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go pour myself some now and curl up in bed with a book and the kitties. If you're in the US, don't forget to Fall Back tonight. Extra hour of sleep - YAY! Driving home in the dark no matter how early I manage to get out of the office - BOO.

Photo Friday

This is my last-minute-change-of-plans costume for a Halloween party last week. My friends threw an 80s theme party. I was originally going to go a "Like a Prayer"-era Madonna, but decided lace dresses and high heels weren't practical in 6" of snow. And thus was born the idea of going as an 80s-era ski bunny.

Please excuse the crappy camera phone photo - when I asked my friends to take my picture with my actual camera, apparently they did not understand the concept of getting a full shot. I know what my face looks like, I wanted a picture of the costume, dammit!

I had the oversized turtleneck sweater, black belt, pearl necklace, and giant hoop earrings. One 20-minute shopping trip later to Target and Dollar Tree for a hot pink puffy jacket, black running tights, knee-high socks with florescent hearts on them, alpine knit booties, pink fingerless gloves, and giant white-framed sunglasses, and I had the rest of the outfit. Not bad for last minute!

Of Imaginary Friends, Real Friends, and Care Packages

I have a group of friends I've never met. Call them penpals, because that's a term that everyone understands and seems nice and safe. 21st century penpals. Which means our communication is electronic. Yep, that's right, I have a bunch of "imaginary" internet friends. Cue the older generation panicking that I'm going to be killed or sucked into a cult or have my identity stolen.

Anyway, these friends knew I had a rough winter. Got laid off at the beginning of January, my pipes froze, my furnace was temperamental (and still needs to be officially fixed...), my boyfriend first fell off the face of the planet and then broke up with me, and to top it all off, it snowed for pretty much the entire freaking month of February. Basically, I wanted to crawl into bed with the cats and never get out. Which I actually did for a couple of weeks.

So a bunch of them pooled their pennies and put together a lovely care package for me. Among other things, they sent me flower seeds to brighten my garden, a candle to light and relax with, and a nicely-funded gift card for Dunkin Donuts so I could get out of the house without having to pull out my own wallet. I was so touched I cried. I couldn't get over the fact that these women, only one of whom I had met before, and all of whom I know have their own crap in life to deal with, cared enough about me to lift my spirits.

Since then, I have contributed funds to other care packages for others who were having a hard time. I sent a bunch of postcards from Israel. And slowly, slowly I've begun meeting more and more of them in person. It helped that there was a Moot in Maine this summer, so I met a whole bunch of awesomeness all at once. I've met up with another local-ish woman for Restaurant Week, and somehow timing worked out that I got together with someone else when I was in Michigan for work last week. My "imaginary friends" are turning into Real Friends and I am so happy about it!

PS - So far I'm still alive, my identity is intact, and I don't feel any compulsions to drink any KoolAid. I do think I need to acquire a zester though...not sure if that counts for Cult Indoctrination 101 or not.

Ambitious To-Do List

It's only Wednesday, but I have a lot going on in my non-existent free time. It's time for another ATDL! Let's see what I can get accomplished by Sunday night.

-Once again, oh dear Lord, the recycling. Why does it always manage to take over the basement stairwell before I get to the Transfer Station?

-And once again, scrub the bathroom.

-And also, vacuum.

Hmmmm, maybe I should have just copied my last ATDL.

-Bring flowerpots with annuals and garden decorations in from outside before we get any more snow.
-Pull remains of veggies from garden beds.
-Cat boxes. Ew, but necessary.
-Sand the bathroom cabinet doors and get at least a coat of primer on them.
-Hang the light in the laundry closet.
-Talk to handyman neighbor about installing shelf in bedroom.
-Update the random financial crap that is boring but needs to be updated.
-Including filing all my travel expense reports for work.
-Start working on my photos from the Israel trip so my book can be done by Christmas.
-Make at least 1 Christmas present.
-Go to the gym at least once and actually work out (not just shower because there is no power at home).
-Go for a looooong walk outside. Maybe even consider jogging for part of it!
-Dig out ski gear and winter clothes, swap out with summer shorts and tanktops in dresser.
-Drop the dry cleaning off.

Thankful Tuesday

I'm thankful that after approximately 64 hours without electricity, my power is back on at home.

I'm thankful that I had friends who were willing to let me crash with laptop and laundry, and neighbors who were willing to lend me a propane heater to warm my house up.

I'm thankful for all of the area businesses who are either located on a main grid or have backup generators and were open for business, even when 88% of my town was without power.

I'm thankful for the plow crew who were out plowing our condo complex on the night of October 29th, even though our contract doesn't officially start until November 1st.

I'm thankful for the line crews who came in from out-of-state and out-of-country to help the utility companies. I'm less than thankful for my utility company's PR department, which is less than impressive or informative.

I'm thankful for working for a company that realizes their employees can still be productive outside of the office, and didn't make us take vacation time while the office was closed for now power.

I'm thankful for my two crazy kitties, who cuddled close and helped keep me warm the last 3 chilly nights. They will be happy with the heat situation!

Before and After: The Deck

Why hello there blog! Miss me much?

The last month has been a whirlwind of activities, travel, and good stuff around the house. It's also been party to more than a couple crying jags, but I'm not here to talk about those. At least, not right now. What I am here to talk about is my spiffy new deck!

The condo association is replacing all of the main floor decks over 4 summers. There are 16 units here, so we did 7 decks last summer that were structurally unsound and need to be replaced ASAP. That left us with 9 decks and a plan to replace 3 a summer through 2013. Original plan was to basically draw straws to determine whose deck would be replaced first, but it was suggested and voted on at the annual Owner's Meeting in May that the contractor should re-inspect the remaining 9 and we'd do the 3 worst this year. Also voted on at the meeting? Me onto the board of directors. Interestingly enough, the 3 decks that wound up being replaced this year were mine, the one other member of the board who didn't have a replacement yet, and the outgoing member whose board seat I took! I swear there were no shenanigans involved!

Originally my deck was only 5' wide - basically just wide enough to fit the grill across one end of it and to have a tiny table with two chairs pushed up against the wall.

Before pictures:

Left: Photo of the rear of my townhouse from the fall I moved in. Showing not only the original deck, but also the original windows (since replaced), the original sliders (ditto), bushes that are no longer there (chopped down by me), trees that are no longer there (chopped down by the condo association), and a collapsing retaining wall that has since been dug out and replaced (thanks again, condo assoc!)
Right: The original deck was pretty much just wide enough for the hammock chair.

 I came home from work on a Monday and had big huge X's of caution tape across the two sliders in the living room - and nothing outside them! It was a great view, sadly I forgot to take a picture. The next day the deck joists were up and temporarily attached to some plank posts so the contractors could pour footings in the right places. The cats were itching to go out and inspect after 2 days of watching people outside their windows all day. Perhaps trying to recreate the days he spent walking along the rafters at my parents' old cabin (left pic), Boo bravely managed to work his way out to the far corner and plop down (center pic). Deck joists are narrower than log cabin rafters though, and he's a little bit wider, so once he got out there, he wasn't too keen on coming back (right pic)! It took about 15 minutes of me coaxing with the kitty treats and him giving me "but I can't balance on this!" looks to get him back inside.

 Gracie, on the other hand, being a normal cat-sized cat, flitted right out and across the joists and back again. She approves of the deck construction. Boo was not amused.

 New deck is now 8' wide, which adds about 60 sq ft of space to my outside area. It's practically a dance floor out there now! The table and chairs look way too small now, though, and I finally have the space to seat more than a couple of people, soooo.....

 ...I hit up Lowes' Labor Day sale for some half price deck furniture! A table and 4 new chairs for $70, which I figured was a steal. I still haven't moved the grill back onto the deck yet, but I spent a good portion of Monday afternoon sitting in the sun, reading, and enjoying the space. Planning an official "Christen the Deck" party in a couple of weekends!