The Aftermath

Bread is rising, and the cookies on top of brownies are baking. The house smells pretty darn good. Now to wash those dishes!

It's the Little Things

The somewhat overexposed table seems a metaphor for the clutter in my life. I can't see the big things for the little things cluttering the view. Things that should be done, want to be done, need to be done, are totally unnecessary. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

Taking What Help I Can Get

Catbert is trying to help me clean; really, she is. And at this point, I'll take what help I can get even if it's just making me smile and grab the camera.

Works in Progress

I'm hosting a dinner party of sorts the day after tomorrow. This offers a reason or excuse to clean up what passes for living quarters. What can I say? I'm working on it.

Pedaling Uphill

It's a busy week in a busy time of year, but I'm trying to do the best I can, as noted on this, my new favorite tote bag. It's from the Zazzle shop of the Bloggess. I may want to be her if I grow up. In the meantime, I don't really have a knife (a sharp one, that is) yet, but there's always Christmas or monetary Christmas gifts.

Nesting

This corner of the dining room will be cleaned up in preparing to host company next week. Younger son works his freelance job from one corner of the dining room table when he's at home, and things he's not using get passed to this corner. Today, younger son in Seattle interviewing with Amazon. Should he get offered a job, I expect he will take it. Then, this corner will remain clean, and I expect that I shall miss the disorder I now lament.

Ouch!

I do so hate it when my headaches layer one on top of another. The prescription pill I took first thing this morning got rid of the migraine component of pain but left behind a decidedly sinus headache. Thanks to a stop at CVS, that pain is now abating. It might be a decent evening after all.

There's a Table Somewhere Under There

I usually try to do too much while the husband is away, and this trip is no exception. I'm working more hours for pay than I usually do and trying to work my way down a long, long list of littles. I hate little things so much more than big ones. The littles are the killer, not the bigs. In the meantime, the new camera body arrived, though all I've had time to do so far is unpack the box and charge one of the batteries.

It's Only Once a Year

The wristband is from this morning's mammogram, something I hope won't need to be repeated for a year and a day. Uncomfortable, yes, but worth it in the bigger scheme of things.

Inside the Window

I do not hate stink bugs as much as some people I know, but I do find them irritating. Choose your battles, and this one isn't worth obsessing over ... yet.

Loose Ends

Returning home always means tying up loose ends. Some laundry has been done, groceries have been obtained, and bread is rising. There are still two bags of garbage to take out, sitting on the floor behind me as I sit at the desk in the kitchen. You're seeing what I'm seeing; I just have a wider angle view all around.

Drowning in the Little

Of the long list of little things to do, I managed to accomplish a trip to the office supply store, grocery shopping, and bread-making, or at least getting the bread to the rising stage. I could still forget all about it and have it rise out of sight or forget it in the oven and have it crash and burn. It's just that kind of weekend.

I'd Like a Personal Shopper Please

Between the wholesale club and the grocery store, I spent the entire morning hunting and gathering. The boxes on the counter and the bags on the floor are but a portion of the morning's haul for a family of 3.5 adults. While it's not much compared to some other families, it's more than enough for me to wrestle. Grocery shopping ranks right down there with laundry as a household chore I do only halfheartedly.

Old Friends

I am organizing bookshelves. Knowing that we have more books by Edith Pargeter (aka Ellis Peters), I went to the garage in search of them. If I had had my camera in hand, today's photo would be of the horror variety, the horror that is the upstairs of the garage. Some people have a junk drawer. We have a second story to the garage.

And She's Off!

I spend more time than I would like in my car though not as much on a daily basis as I used to. My previous car sported a bumper sticker that proclaimed "If I'm a mother at home, then why am I always in my car?" This got a lot of comments in parking lots, though not quite as many as my current "Republicans for Voldemort" one does.

One of the Banes of My Existence

Interestingly, laundry was the source of my first successful New Year's resolution which, some years ago, was to put the clean laundry away each night before heading to bed. And no matter how many nights I put clean laundry away, there's always more dirty laundry to replace it the next morning.