Things to NOT Do Again

1. Absently scratch my nose while slicing cheese with a sharp knife (resulted in a weird looking scratch and darn near took out an eye).

2. Put a (loose) sock on the head of a grumpy cat. I know, it sounds like fun. However, said grumpy cat may have been grumpy because of a soon-to-be-ejected hairball. The hoped for hilarity did NOT ensue.

3. Run upstairs to grab the phone in the kitchen, while wearing brand-new-just-off-the-needles wool socks. In mathematical terms:
[wool socks + vinyl flooring]^corner at high speed = buises + a groin pull.

4. Go out in public with a compromised immune system. I have spent the last month catching every cold, cough, flu, and other bug going around. There have been maybe three days in November wherein I felt healthy.

5. Use crappy health from cold/cough/flu whatever as an excuse to sink into the depths of melancholy. November has been a less than fun month.

6. Eat nothing but instant snack food and carbohydrates. Bad. Really, really, bad. Makes it hard to get out of a funk. However, I'm pretty much ready for that whole scene to end, now.

7. Stop blogging, because I'm just depressing myself. Idiot. Blogging is how I express myself - it helps pull me through the grumpies.

Now, things I WILL do: eat healthy meals thrice daily, hydrate properly, walk outside regularly, spend less time online futzing aimlessly and more time cuddling the cats, and generally look at life from a better place.

Also, if I don't, Christmas is coming, and will completely f*ck me if I'm not careful. Woo hoo.

The State of the Carpet Today

Yesterday was a major housework day. You know the type - I vacuumed, use the crevice tool on the edges (very rare here as I'm not a fan of work in any form, and the crevice tool isn't just housework, it's a tool, too), and then I steam cleaned the upstairs.

Our house is 1400 square feet on the top level, and around 1100 downstairs. Steaming the upstairs carpet was a pretty major job.

Afterwards, I celebrated by vacuuming the stairs between the levels. My reward was having the vacuum tumble down three steps while I was attempting to switch heads to the crevice tool (damn that crevice tool) and land on my right hand. Ouch is not what I said at the time, but will do for explanation.

This morning, DH & I were enjoying a sleep in on a sunny Saturday, when we heard that dreaded sound . . . a Massive Hurk-Fest was taking place. We shuddered, pulled the covers over our heads, and avoided as long as possible. However, eventually we had to face it. After Hurk-Fest removal and spot treatment, I realized, sadly, that further steaming would be required. Damn.

So, instead of having a care-free weekend with a spotless carpet and dust-free crevices, we will be walking carefully to avoid damp spots where I had to use the steamer again.

There goes our plan of rolling around on the floor, buck naked in a sun-beam. And I was sooo ready for naked roll-fest, I had even shaved my legs! Above the knee! Sigh.

Last night on television...

Did anyone else watch "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgewick? It is not really a show I an enamoured with, but hey, I was sitting in the dark and hoping that the Halloween Trick-or-Treaters would magically vanish, so I didn't screw around with channel surfing. Yes, I ran out of candy. At 6:45pm. Doh!

Anyway, on The Closer, the mother of the autistic teenaged boy (ex-wife of the murdered judge) was wearing this lace-y thing that I am IN LOVE WITH!!!!! It was not quite a stole, not quite a cardigan. It had a normal back and sleeves (set in, all lace) and then these ginormous lace panels on the front that could be thrown over the shoulder to engulf the wearer in lace, lace, lace. If not in the mood for lace around the shoulders, they could be left to hang, something like a swing coat front.

Yummy! Delicious! Me want! Me must make! And, I just picked up the Barbara Walker Treasury of Stitch Patterns (which has all of my favorite lace patterns, as well as many I hadn't yet seen, all in one place). I could make something featuring a number of different lace panels. Wee hee!

But, focus must be kept, deadlines must be met - because Christmas is (still) coming. My Christmas knitting is coming along well, and I made a child's scarf last night (while hiding from other children). The list, for those that are mocking me:

Finished: Mom's husband, older brother, grandfather, uncle, mother-in-law, brother's girlfriend, her daughter, her son, other brother's girlfriend.

In process: Mom, brother-in-law, his wife.

Not yet started: Father-in-law, grandmother, younger brother.

Not bad. Not bad at all.