Thursday, October 30, 2008

I'm really restless today!

I'm not sure what exactly is up with me. I am just feeling restless and at loose ends. It's once again a beautiful day, warm, slightly breezy, heading for 70, and I am not sure what I want to do with myself. There is plenty to do around here... Eric and I bought a steam cleaner the other day so that we can touch up all the carpets, the main floor couch, and the upstairs futon (three large, hairy dogs, three fuzzy cats, and 5 teenagers all take a toll on beige furniture and carpets), but we are out of cleaning solution, and I have no car, so that is out... We cleaned the living room carpet on Tuesday and oh, wow, did it come out nice! I was thrilled! Can't wait to take on the rest of the carpets! And as an aside, for anyone with pets, we have a Dyson Vaccuum, the "animal", and it is fantastic! It cleans so well, has such great suction power and capacity, it makes vaccuuming a dream! As you can tell, I am enjoying some of the housework I am doing... (heehee).

Eric is as work today, the kids are at school, ('cept for Brie and Cliff--not sure what they are up to as I haven't seen them yet today...), and it just feels too quiet. Maybe I just need to put on my Zune (mp3 player--music and podcasts etc) and dig in somewhere... We are going to turn the "dining room" (as it is listed on the house floor plans) into a sewing room for me, and I am really eager t0 get going on that... I have the wall quilt all designed I want to make for the bowling alley raffle quilt (to raise money for the youth league) but have no place right now to cut it out or sew it up. It is calling to me something fierce! I did start a new sweater (knitting) on Tuesday night at the bowling alley, for me, made out of egyptian cotton in a lavender color, and that is lovely to work on, but I'm too restless right now to knit. Cleaning and sorting is calling to me loudly, but I am feeling ambivalent about it at the moment... just restless I guess.

Had to laugh: on Tuesday night I got a call from Patrick as we were leaving the bowling alley (so 9ish), asking if we could pick up some oreo cookies, some cream cheese, and some semi-sweet baking chocolate, which he NEEDED for a class presentation at school the next day. Everything on post was already closed, so we ended up running to walmart... Eric bought me a bouquet of lovely fall flowers while we were there... We got home and Patrick presented me with a recipe to make "truffles" that needed to be made "now" so he would have them for his Creative Writing Class (don't ask! heehee). I read through the instructions, and Eric announced, "well, have fun with that hon--I am headed to bed!" It was now after 10 pm and he had to be up at 4 am... So, I got out my food processor, and Patrick (with my help) made truffles 'til midnight on Tuesday night (process the cookies to a fine powder, mix well with the cream cheese, form into 1" balls, dip into melted chocolate, and sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs... Then chill for an hour until firm and refridgerate in a covered container 'til gone...) Once Patrick had the hang of what he was doing, I sat on the couch and read, keeping him company til he was done. They actually were quite tasty, and he even saved a portion for home, but it was a putzy, fussy project, and one not suited to doing so late at night (he was right though--there is no way he could have gotten them made before school...) I guess they went over well at school too, so I hope it helped his grade. Hmmmm.... bribing the teacher with chocolate.... Maybe Rei should try that too!

I am soooo tired of pets right now I could spit! Pekeiko is in heat and is driving us all nuts; Po is "marking territory" like he's mining for gold, and my cats are just being pests... Midnight and Leina too are being frustrating by being underfoot, and then there is the growling and rough-housing and shedding... I shouldn't complain, but they DO drive me nuts sometimes, especially when I feel like Eric and I are the ones cleaning up after them for the most part... I swear, my next pet is gonna be a rock! One of these days I'll take pics of the pets and post them... Just haven't gotten around to it as yet.

I was really proud of myself: yesterday I called the customer service line at JoAnn.com yet again, and finally I got some satisfaction! I had ordered an Ott Magnifying attachment for my Ott floor lamp (for ease in cross stitching primarily, but it will also help with other fine handwork), as they had a special 4 day sale for all Ott products at half-off. I ordered the wrong one for my lamp, and while they got it here in amazing time, it didn't work on my lamp. Called the company, was told they would even exchange it for the correct one, and I sent the wrong one back. Second call, yes they had received it, no it had not been credited or exchanged yet... Third call, a week later, still no forward progress, but I could purchase the correct one (at the now 40% off price), and they would eventually credit the wrong one back to me, but I said no to that and reminded them they had said they would do an even exchange... So I waited another week and called yesterday: profuse apologies, no it hadn't been done yet, but yes they had my old one in the warehouse AND they had the correct one in stock; terribly sorry ma'am, we will send out the correct one, and even expedite shipping for your patience and inconvenience... Hopefully, the new one (the correct one!) will be here tomorrow or Saturday, Monday at the latest! Sooooo Happy! I can soon work on my Mandala again without dealing with magnifiers over my glasses!

I picked up my Blackwork Dragon yesterday from the Arts and Crafts center. I am happy to have it home, even if it didn't win anything, and had a nice letter of thanks for submitting it. That made me feel good. They also provided dates for next year's show and said to keep it it mind as I do things over the coming year... I certainly will!

I think perhaps that I need a fresh cup of coffee, drunk outside on my swing, along with my notebook and a pen to realistically plan out what all I want to get accomplished... I know I need to make a couple of shopping lists (groceries, household/cleaning supplies), and that may just be what I need right now... Then I will pop in my ear pieces, put on some bouncy music, and get going on the chores... Always good to have a plan!

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