netgyks

Sometimes I wonder how communal living will be if I'm surrounded by people who watch TV all the time. I can't stand to hear a TV droning on for minutes, or worse, hours at a time. My Enya station on Pandora will be there for me if I need it!

We've been doing some storytelling with our son lately. He likes hearing the tales we weave about Magical Cat Zeus who flies around the world, and even outer space, helping other cats and granting them special powers. He has a huge interest in superheroes lately, so this fulfills that need nicely. I'd rather make up stories about a kitty cat than let him watch Sonic or whatever else it is he finds on Netflix. Some of our stories have been inspired by tales we've seen or read, like Star Wars and one that was very loosely inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I always end the story with some form of Zeus being pleased with the resolved situation.

There are a few things I've done lately with which I have been pleased. Of course our on-going decluttering pleases me and my family and our house! Many more items of outgrown or over-used clothing and household linens are on their way to Goodwill. From what I hear, they also have a fabric recycling program, so if you take them items they cannot use, they can be shredded and they get money from that. Coolness.

Scott got some new threads to replace his old, worn-out ones from a great sale Jos. A Banks had. $50 off $100, free shipping, shopped clearance. 3 items arrived the other day. The pants need to be taken to the store in Wheaton and exchanged because they were way too tight. One shirt is backordered so we're expecting that soon.

We had a recent gift card bonanza. Kiddo got some new summer shirts with an very ancient 2009-era Old Navy store credit I found in the glove box. Scott found a Starbucks card in his car that same week. I was thirsty while we were out, so I popped into one of the local stores (aren't there like a billion of them?) and it had money on it! It had to be from last Xmas. I didn't get any cards for them this year. Got some tea, a scone and apple juice. Something for everyone! Off to IKEA we went, where I had several dollars in cash-back rebates for using my debit card. The lady was so nice to key all of them in even with self-checkout. Yes, I did ask before I proceeded. Lowes gift card is on tap too. We're just waiting for some need to arise that the gift card can meet.

Lastly, because this is a long bit of typing for me, I'm glad we have black IKEA furniture. Most of it is old, so nearly all outgassing is done. They use low formaldehyde levels in their glue, another good thing. It shows every speck of dust, so I am reminded once a week of my need to dust--a task I have chronically neglected as an adult. Scott is allergic to dustmite droppings/discarded skins, so it's pretty important to keep the dust at a minimum. I'm doing what I can to alleviate sick house syndrome. Sure, the carpet is old, but we steam it more often now with a hot water/vinegar mix. Our vacuum is getting a new HEPA filter (good deal for it on ebay). We have some nice houseplants and I checked out a book at the library for further research. It's called "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that purify your home or office." Now granted, I have to try to make cat-friendly choices, so not all of them are suitable. Furnace filter gets changed more often. Windows get opened more often as well.

Crossing my fingers, hoping my Amazon shipment arrives today. It has some large drapery hooks for our bedroom window. Without them, we can't open the curtains very well and a dark room in the daytime is ridiculous. Right now our non-lightblocking jute curtains are hanging in there and the morning light wakes me early. That would be fine if we went to bed around 9:30 when the bedtime alarm goes off. Seems that lately that isn't the case :( Eh something to work toward in the future.

On an unrelated note, we're both dreaming of a condo. Him at night, me in the daytime. While he was getting ready for work, I was sitting on the chaise looking out the window daydreaming about a corner unit on the ground floor. Well I might as well--it's not like we can stay here! I thought about the patio and how we can hire a company to take our wrought iron table and chairs for sandblasting and painting right as we are moving, then have them deliver them to the condo. 'Course if we can't fit them on the patio we'll be just fine as our orange IKEA Urban kitchen chairs do double duty for a patio. And they stack well too. I guess if we run out of money and/or space, we'll just sell off the patio set and use these with some random IKEA table we pick up. That's ruining my daydream lol!

So for now I will fart around waiting for the mail. Seems the dishwasher could use a reloading, and I should wash up my tote bag before we head out today. Snoo painted it the other day.

Unlimited time can bring unlimited squandering of many things: time, money, potential. It would be glorious to celebrate the autumnal equinox at my Wood Dale weight. I need to break out the bag of tricks for food modification--more bananas, less bread, more water of course--all those little things we know and forget. It's easier to be outdoors and active in the summer so that should help too.

Perhaps a dual goal can be set too... one long T-Tapp workout per week by then. Good grief it will take that long to get my left knee back into it! I need to research foods that are good for a joint damaged by teenage dancing indiscretions. Once I knew of them, and now I've forgotten. Thank the cats for Google!

...are still wounds. They just hurt longer.

For four and a half years, my son has been second priority to my job and it's just not right. Not at all. And he knows that. Yesterday I had a huge inner smile. He said, "hey mom look at me!" and I wasn't absorbed with work (I was off duty actually) and I turned around and watched him, fully present, and he knew that I was focused on loving him right there in that moment. THAT'S what this is all about! My son is my priority, I'm letting him know it and I'm letting the world know it.

Seeing a plastic kids' picnic table get dumped into the trash truck yesterday. It didn't even need to be manufactured, let alone dumped in some superfund site!

Going to Goodwill and seeing aisle after aisle of pointless kitchy crap.

Trolling Craigslist looking for the elusive orange chair IKEA discontinued and seeing so much excess, and knowing I've been a part of that.

In short, excessive consumerism and waste. It makes me a very sad panda.

Yesterday my kid caught me on the toilet. He said he needed a rainbow to come and grant me a penis so he could have two dads.

Today we were downstairs and he was practicing funny voices. He said low and slow and very demonically, "I want teething tabs." I laughed til I cried!

I'm awake, compliments of my innards. Now to be fair, had I eaten yesterday within the normal time frames, all would have been well. Plus we had TJ's orange chicken and I should not have eaten as much as I did. Spacing meals 9 hours apart is foolhardy and I know it. I'll work on respecting my body's need to eat in the morning, around noon and then no later than 7 pm. IBS makes a body less tolerant of late meals, and *especially" of heavy meals. This morning is full of painful reminders.

Thanks to the candied dried ginger, I didn't toss my cookies. That might have been a relief, but I love their orange chicken and I didn't want to ruin it for months on end. Especially since I bought 2 bags of it and have limited freezer space LOL!

So I watched some InuYasha, browsed reddit, blah blah. Then decided that 5 AM is the perfect time to sew a button that's been missing from my khakis for at least a year. No more popped safety pin in the belly! I found a tapestry needle hidden in the sewing box. Yesterday I went to Joann's and bought some so I can finally weave in the ends of the fingerless mitts I knitted months ago. We're having quite a warm October after a chilly September and it lulls one into a false sense of security, but watch out! Winter is definitely around the corner! I'll be ready. Hey I wonder if I can find a nice cover for the new iPhone I plan to upgrade to, a cover that will match my mitts? That might be pushing it too far.

Yes, the mitts have green in them, though they are not green. The colorway is from Blackberry Ridge, hyacinth I think? purple and blue and green. Very nice.

Last Friday I did a few rows on the Doctor Who scarf at Mom's Night Out knitting, but otherwise I haven't been knitting or crocheting or gaming. Work has been ultra-busy and my right wrist is for crap. If I stay here at the desk, it's manageable, but the minute I start trying to computing from the chaise using either my lap or the IKEA tray table, I'm hosed. I'm sure I won't be at the computer as much soon enough.

I really want to go to sleep. I think I'll take some Hyland's for adults and pass out again. Besides, the smell at the desk is making me sick. I put some boxes of Partylite candles in the desk drawers to cut the cigarette smell. My cotton balls with essential oil worked better. I'm going to ask Scott to exorcise the candle demons from the desk later. I might puke if I do it!