Archive for December 14, 2009

>Life is but a dream…

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After having been up for thirty something hours, I finally took a nap a while ago and slept for about two hours and now I feel awfully refreshed and after one cup of coffee, I have come to my senses and I am ready to go again. As a matter of fact, that cup of coffee tasted so great, I think I will have one more, then I’ll switch to green tea with lemon. I bought that especially at the supermarket the other day for nights like this when I would be perky and wide awake and wanted something good to drink. I forgot all about it yesterday when I was so busy being productive and moving furniture around.

Speaking of that, when I came home from creative therapy today, I realized that my paintings didn’t match my interior at all. As a matter of fact, they clashed badly and I had to take them down immediately and hang something else up. So, I hung up my paintings in my bedroom, where they fit in a lot better and I hung one really good framed movie poster from the bedroom in the living room. That left two empty spaces and by rearranging some things, and adding here and there, I filled those up too until I was happy with the results. I did find out in which walls I can and can not hammer a nail. It’s extremely frustrating when you find out you need a drill and you have to use the screw that’s already in there, which determines what you can hang up there. If it’s too large, for example, you may cover up a light switch.

Also, when I came home, I discovered that a cat had been having a field day with the scarf, that I had used as a runner on the dining table, and the potted plant. The scarf was all bunched up and there were little leaves all over the place and when I asked who was the culprit, Toby looked the most guilty. Anyway, I cleaned it all up and took the scarf off the table as being not a good idea. I don’t need those kinds of headaches and I could see it happening repeatedly. I have to animal proof the apartment as much as possible. If it looks too good to be true, it is.

Then I decided that I didn’t like the vase with the twinkly branches and the Christmas decorations on the dresser at all and I moved it to the bedroom, where it looks a lot nicer and very romantic. That left an empty space on the dresser, so I put the fig plant there, but I had to cut off some of the lower leaves that had spread out too far. The fig plant had been covering up a mildewy spot on the wall, so tomorrow I need to get the paint out and paint over it and hope it takes. I may do that tonight, as a matter of fact. I think what I have is anti mildew paint, or something like that.

I didn’t clean up the kitchen early this morning, I forgot what I did instead. Anyway, I got to do that happy job this afternoon and I broke two glasses while doing the dishes and I wasn’t being rough in particular. I noticed it because I cut myself and found not one, but two broken glasses. Now I have to go to the cheap store to buy some new ones, because I don’t have that many left. There’s no excuse not to go anymore now. It’s my fate to go to that store. I do hope they have some decent ones, though. I have the feeling that the last ones I bought did break very easily. Maybe I won’t go to the cheapest store, but to the decent store and buy the glasses there instead. I’ll be more sure of the quality. I’ve also got to buy some Christmas cards, because although I said I wasn’t sending any this year, I have been getting cards already and I am going to be sending cards in return. It would be awfully sad if I didn’t do that. I do so like receiving them and then I do want to send them as well.

There was a layer of frost on all the cars this morning and all the drivers were out scraping ice off their windows. That’s why the heater finally went on. I’ve turned it down a notch to 19.5C so it doesn’t turn on as quickly. I don’t want to make the energy company happy. I’d rather wear an extra sweater. The sun was out all day, though, and it was nice outside. Cold but nice. If you wear a scarf and gloves, you are okay on your bike. There is no wind and that is the most important thing.

I made a George Clooney collage this morning. I found some good photographs of him and cut them out and added some other interesting things to it and some text. Boy, George Clooney is cute and he gets better looking as he gets older, just like Sean Connery. He’s a regular hunk. I’d fall for him easily, except that he wouldn’t fall for me. A man like that can have his pick of perfect babes. You’d have to share him with the world. Anyway, I hope the collage turns into something decent. I’m not done with it yet, it needs the final touches.If it turns out well, I’ll take a picture of it and post it.

I’m amazingly tired. It just hit me. I think I will go to bed on time tonight. I want to stay up and do interesting things, but I don’t know if my body will co-operate. I think it doesn’t want to. It wants to go to sleep.

I’m not very happy with my current template. I don’t think it’s very special at all. I had imagined that it would look more spectacular. It’s not nearly as breathtaking as I thought it was going to be. I will have to pick out another template. Isn’t that a shame? I know you all hate this very much. I do it to give you all a hard time and to keep you on your toes. Never a dull moment.

I have said enough for tonight. I will save the rest for tomorrow when I’m awake again.

I hope you all have a good night’s sleep or whatever it is you’re having. Be good at it!

Ciao,
Nora

>It never did…

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Well, it never did turn into time to go to bed and I have been busy all night. It turned out that the cable that was so long in the kitchen closet, and that was attached to the modem, was the cable that was attached to the computer, which meant that there was enough cable there for me to move the computer across the living room to the corner where the black and white chair was standing. This was perfect, so I started taking things off the computer desk so I could move it and I unplugged it from the wall. I had to unplug the sound system, but I could leave the rest of the cables plugged in and moved the whole desk with the computer on it. It wasn’t heavy and I easily slid it across the room. Once there, I installed the sound system again and plugged the computer in and checked that everything worked and it did. I was so proud of myself. I do have to tuck the cable into the baseboards, but I’ll have to do some hammering for that and I obviously can’t do that now.

I moved the black and white chair to were the computer desk used to be and put a painted wooden crate next to it with a plant on top and an astray from Italy beside it. I’ll have to get a proper little table for there, but this will do for now. Now the sitting area is completely done, except for the different colored blinds I want to get, but there’s no rush. I will all happen in it’s own sweet time. The computer desk is right beside a radiator and just tonight it got so cold outside that the heater came on and it got toasty warm in this corner, so that was very pleasant.

The sound system is working and I’m listening to Feist. I was listening to Linkin’ Park earlier. It gets me in the right mood. Hell, anything is bound to get me in the right mood now. I don’t know what is wrong with me and where all this energy is coming from, but it’s great. I remember having this much energy twenty years ago, but not recently. I feel like a young chick. I was joking about the fact that those vitamin pills were working awfully fast, seeing as though I’ve only had two of them so far, but I feel like Popeye who’s eaten a can of spinach. I even have muscles in my brain.

In a little while I’m going to clean up the kitchen, which is a job that has been waiting for me for a while now and I’ve been putting it off. I didn’t have the courage to get it done and now it seems like it is nothing at all and I’ll have it done in a jiffy.

Massive Attack is on now, am I in the mood for that? I must see if there is something better. Ha, now I’m listening to Björk. That’s the right kind of music for an early autumn morning.

The cats are keeping me company, but the dog has retreated to the bedroom to sleep on his pillow. He doesn’t like these all nighters. He appreciates his sleep. This will give me a chance to put an extra blanket under the blanket that he sleeps on in the living room. I want to make it as comfortable as possible for him. I don’t want him to get sore elbows. God forbid.

If you sit in other places in your living room, where you normally don’t sit, you notice new dust. It is very irritating, because you realize you’re even sloppier than you thought you were. I must make a bucket of suds and clean the radiators. Oh joy, that’s just the kind of job I was looking forward to. Radiators were designed by men who didn’t think of what dust traps they would be for housewives.

Okay, now I’ve got to clean up the kitchen. Enough of these shenanigans. It’s like all I do is sit here and send out missives. As if I don’t have other things to do.

Have a wonderful day today.

Ciao,
Nora

>Time to go to bed….

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After having changed the living room around, and having posted the photographs of it here, I find myself full of piss and vinegar and nor nearly ready to go to sleep. Firstly, because it is so nice to sit in a rearranged living room. Secondly, because I put a long blue scarf as a runner on the dining table and every time I look at it, I’m startled by the effect. Thirdly, because I put the vase with lighted branches on the dresser and hung christmas balls and other decorations in it, so now it’s festive here. I also realized that the computer desk needs to be moved to where the black and white chair is now, and the chair needs to be moved to where the desk is now. Some cable needs to be laid for that and I need the expertise of the Exfactor for that. So I will have to wait for his broken collar bone to heal.

The cats liked me moving the furniture around and immediately started climbing on top of everything. Cats always like that kind of stuff, they like to be right in the middle of things and then claim all the new territory as quickly as possible. The dog was also right there and barely moved out of the way for the vacuum cleaner, but he reluctantly did if he had to. He was trying to hang on to his sleeping spot, but I had to move his blanket and for a while it didn’t have a place anywhere, leaving him stranded. I finally folded it over double and put it beside the bookcase where he is sound asleep now. I think I will put another blanket under it to make it even more comfortable for him to sleep on. I do have to consider his aging bones that want as soft as possible a place to lay on.

Now that I’ve moved the furniture, it’s really obvious that the walls need to be painted, but that is going to be such a big job that I’m going to wait until I’m physically very fit. Or if I keep being as fit as I have been today, because today I can imagine painting the walls and it doesn’t seem like an unsurmountable job. The hardest part is going to be to move the bookcase away from the wall. It is heavy even if I take all the books out of it and very tough to manhandle. I want the walls to be a sand color and I can already imagine what they are going to look like. I also want to get brighter color blinds for the living room windows. The ones I have now are burgundy colored and I want red. Yes, and money still doesn’t grow on trees, especially not at this time of the year.

I got a nice gift from Babaloo. She gave me the book The Last Girls from Lee Smith, which is a book I really wanted. I seem to be blessed with people who send me kind gifts. You don’t know how much that means to me. It makes me feel ever so special. Lee Smith is a new writer for me. She is a Southern writer from the States and writes about small town America there. I’m looking forward to reading that book very much. I will spend much time on my newly positioned sofa reading good novels. Thanks, Babaloo!

I trimmed one of my plants that lost a lot of its leaves. I have it sitting on the dining table and it was trailing all over the place looking scraggly, so I took the scissors and gave it a haircut in the hopes that it will fill out well and look bushier and fuller in a short amount of time, and I’m going to keep trimming the trailing ends to keep it compact. I’m hoping to turn it into a healthy plant again. I think I can do it, as the other plant has perked up and is looking better already. I’ve also watered my prayer plant, as I discovered it was dry and moved it to a spot closer to the window and it too has perked up quite a bit. It seems to appreciate daylight a lot more than the somewhat dark spot I had it sitting in. Plants do appreciate the little things you do for them. I’ve moved my rubber plant, but I don’t know if it’s going to like where it is now, away from the window. I can only try and hope for the best, if not, invest in a plant that will take low light conditions.

I was just sitting here looking around and I decided to move the big scratching post from the corner of the living room, because the cats never use it, and to hang one of my paintings in that corner. So I did and got a light that I clamped on to the bookcase and pointed to the painting and now I have a nice bright corner there. Then I took two more of my paintings and hung those up in the living room too instead of two smaller things that were hanging there. I had to very softly hammer two little nails into the wall for one of them, so as not to wake the neighbors, but I was successful. I must say that it all looks quite nice. It is very gratifying to have your own art hanging around, no matter how simplistic it is. Of course, what I really want is the collages framed and hung up, but I have to buy the frames for those. That will please me to no end. But this is nice too. Another brilliant idea, if I may say so myself.

If I sit here long enough, I’m sure to have more ideas. Now that my evil little mind is at work it is not going to leave me alone and keep scheming and planning, except that it is the wrong time of the night to be doing these kinds of things. Darn, isn’t it a shame that there is such a thing as bedtime? Just when you’re having all your good ideas. I just went to have a look in the kitchen closet where the modem for the computer is and I think there is enough extra cable for me to move the computer to the other side of the room. Aha! Isn’t that interesting? I may not even need the Exfactor. I may be able to do this job by myself. This requires careful investigation.

It would be really funny if I managed to do all of this on my own. It would be the total liberation of myself as a woman. First I would have to make a little drawing of where all the plugs go in the back of the computer. That would be simple. But the first thing I have to do is trace the proper cable to it’s source and trace the other cables that are coming out of the modem also. One would be for the television and one for the telephone and one for the computer. That ought to be easy to figure out. I love it when I think logically.

Okay people, I’m about to go do a big experiment. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Hopefully everything will go well.

Ciao,
Nora