Butterbeer, oh yeah!

When last we left our intrepid heroine, I have no idea what was going on because when was that? Don't know!

I recently had to stop saying "I know!" to the dog in sympathy because I realized he can't tell the difference between no and know. Ach! Poor pup. I made him a giant dog bed nest on my desk so he can look out the window when I'm at work all day. He's on it right now, chin on windowsill, watching the cows and birds and things. It means he's six inches away from me, which is his favorite place to be, second only to right against me or on top of me. And I can lean over and smooch his soft ears any time I want. Yay!

Oddly enough, this has drastically reduced the activities of the United Housepet Writing Prevention League. Hmmm!

Yes, I'm a getting up in the morning and going to work person these days! I love it. But I'm still exhausted by the whole thing. I know I'll adapt. I'm already waking up early on weekends, even. It's awesome to be so strangely functional and productive, ha! Hoo boy.

I also like the commute what with how it's the only time I'm actually by myself pretty much ever. If by "by myself" you mean "without housepets" also. Since they are rather INTERACTION INTENSIVE I think I will count it.

My only conundrum has been...tea. Yes! Because I'll make a cup of tea in the morning in a ceramic cup and one in a travel mug. But the ceramic cup one is too hot to drink before I leave. So I take it with. And then it spills in the car because it tilts in the cupholder. And the travel mug tea is too hot to drink even when I get to work. And then I manage to spill it (even with a lid) on my hands and so on while walking into the building and juggling all my assorted stuff.

Sheesh, it's complicated being me!

So I got a tall travel mug shaped ceramic travel mug with a lid that closes. How about that?

I'm pretty psyched. It's white and it has all these big bright flowers on it! Woooo!

I have a lot to do today but I'm sort of sluggish about wrapping my head around it, organizationally. Which is why I'm here, no doubt, ha ha! Online Job is starting up again (for which let us be truly thankful, oh man, $$$) so I have all that to set up today, plus laundry, not to mention cooking some food for tomorrow in some kind of inventive way. And I have to go out to Walmart (oof) and return my library books and fill up the car. With gas. Not with, like, pillows. Though that sounds kind of nice.

Yesterday I didn't get these things done because of a sudden project: fixing the sump pump outflow, which froze solid. And I mean twelve feet of inch and a half PVC pipe, solid ice. This is bad because the sump pump will keep trying to pump anyway and will burn itself out and cause who knows what havoc, starting with but not limited to needing to be replaced. By me. And it's in a two foot diameter well in the corner of the basement. I could totally do it, and I'd love the project, except, what are my least favorite things again? Confined spaces, wells, and basements? Ooooooh boy. Also the water is incredibly disgusting down in that well. I looked. EW.

Fortunately the pipe came apart into sections, mostly, so they're standing up against the wall, waiting for spring. And I cut off the stupid part that the idjit who put the thing in did. He put all these elbows into the pipe, I don't know why, but it meant that the water didn't flow right out as it would with a steeper angle, but laid in there and froze up and up and up in layers.

So anyway I cut that part off and put a bigger pipe under the outflow to drain it away from the house.

I love any job that requires figuring things out and using multiple tools. Including the heat gun! Boy oh boy I sure do love the heat gun. It looks like a drill but instead of a bit on the end it just puts out HEAT. Very very hot heat. It melted the ice inside the remaining pipe (and kind of melted the pipe, too, or at least made it all soft, but it didn't deform) so I could hack it out and pull out the ice plug.

I sure do love power tools, don't I? Did you know they make little baby electric chainsaws that you charge up? I might have to get one some day.

Yesterday before the PVC extravaganza I also shoveled the whole entire driveway, which kind of takes it out of you. And later I took Mr. Dog for a walk up in the woods. Basically I was my dad. Don't think that wasn't clear to everyone around, either.

This is the slightly unfriendly thing I did: I came downstairs after a nap and went straight out the door with the dog when I saw alien boots in the front hall. Remember the Amish neighbor girl who said I looked Amish and then said I looked squirrelly? Those were her boots. Which I knew. She was visiting with my mom. So I skipped out. That is unfriendly! But it wasn't because of her--I didn't want to see anyone. It wasn't personal.

Then I saw from her boot prints in the snow that she came over through the fields and our woods, which we'd talked about last time I saw her, so that's cool.

Gawain found a skinned rabbit leg up by that one chewed up tree where Larry and I were talking about porcupines, but gave it up quite willingly. Good boy! I don't think he knew quite what to do with a skinned frozen raw rabbit leg, but he thought it was pretty interesting and carried it over to me. I flung it into some briars. And now I kind of want to wash my mittens.

Oh! And I invented butterbeer. Or my version of it. SO GOOD. Boiling water, brown sugar, a bit of butter, and some butterscotch schnapps. Yes! I know, it's basically liquid cookies, or something, but oh man, it's about the most comforting thing in the entire world. It's a slight variation of hot buttered rum, really.

I am feeling kind of awesome? With a question mark? I even grappled with my heinous bills today and put all of them into Quicken as liabilities, with the startling result that I seem to owe ten times what I have at the moment, which at least is a number and not a formless cloud of DOOOOOOOM. Anyway I'll knock it down fast now that I have some of those INCOME things. Once they start coming IN.

Oh and I cut my hair Thursday night, but just the back mullet-y part. It is now super cute and a mop top Beatles kind of thing but tucks behind my ears a bit on the sides. Like a proto-bob with bangs? Maybe.

I'm also heavily into shortening (and therefore widening) all these gorgeous old long skirts I have that don't fit anymore. They're sort of A-line so if you cut off the top ten inches or whatever and make a self-casing for elastic, you suddenly have a beautiful twirly knee-length skirt with a professional hem on it. It's fast and it turns dead weight baggage into immediately wearable clothes.

I get compliments on them all the time. How cool is that? My favorite one was: "I love your outfit! You have the best skirts and shit!" Hee. Actually I almost always wear a scoop neck black knit cotton top with 3/4 length sleeves and black cotton leggings and boots. I just vary the skirt. I mean I seriously went out and bought four nearly identical black tops. And one white one. And one olive green one. And I have the red ones I got for the WGA strike. And I have a stack of black leggings and a lot of different boots. Mix and match with skirts! And I always have some cardigan or other but I'm up and about all the time and rarely need it.

Those tops, man, they changed my getting dressed life. CJ Banks, upholstered people! I'm telling you. Great quality clothes. Very well cut, sturdy, well shaped, utterly comfortable. Unlike that other place which makes poor quality clothes covered with sequins.

So I have some skirt surgery to add to today's list of things to do. Let's start with the laundry! Okay!

I hope y'all are doing well and hanging in there and COPING and all that! January is a hard time but February is often even harder, so get yourself a heart-shaped box of chocolates (excellent against dementors) and take good care of yourselves. And try the butterbeer! Mmmmmm.