Confessions of a One-Track Mind

Slept under blankets last night, which was a voluptuous luxury. Woke feeling all cozy and happy in sunlight and lingered for a little while. Got up and made said bed. Then fixed breakfast, consumed same, and made a plan.

I decided it's time to excavate my laundry room/back third of my garage. It gradually became critical over the long hot summer. I'd go out there, throw some laundry into the machine, and when done, it would either get heaped atop the dryer or ironing board, or it would live in the dryer until I was desperately trying to do the next load. I had to lean over a pile of stuff to turn the knob and press the button on the dryer, and was slipping and stumbling over stuff underfoot. Highly unsatisfactory.

So where to begin? I snagged an eco-friendly grocery bag to stash socks and underwear in, so I could haul it all back to my room and get it squared away. Did a quick sweep of the place, rounding up more undies and things for a load while I was working. Got that started, and began on the dryer heap.

Both steps of the process yielded things I'd been looking for. Olive green top I'd gotten to go with my olive cargo pants, found on the floor of the garage, ditto my grey and pink empire top, a green cami that I'll be wearing under the green top GK just sent me, socks and undies, etc.

I hung up a bunch of stuff. I'm not down to the top of the dryer yet, because there are things I just don't know what to do with. I don't really have a linen closet as such---it got filled with other things over the years---and I'm trying to figure out where best to store the assortment of towels, pillowcases, sheets, tablecloths and whatnot.

Massive pruning is required. I have a fuckton of clothes I don't wear anymore, because they're just too big. And while that makes me happy in the sense that it's easier to be well-dressed as a 24/26 than it was at a 32/34, I'm torn between wanting to recoup some of what I spent on it all to wanting to just get rid of it and make room. But honestly? I know how bad my follow-through is; I might as well collect it all in the living room and call a charity for pick-up. It would get it out of here, benefit others, and give me a surplus of hangers for a change.

I didn't really expect my stipend to arrive today, but I'm hoping for tomorrow. Plan for tomorrow calls for waiting til the mail runs, then hopefully cashing it and getting gas. Regardless of whether it's there or not, I'm going to take my cans in for recycling (more than one way to get gas money, she says grimly), then on the way home, stop by the pay station and give FPL some money. It's conveniently next to the S'leven where I'll be gassing up.

Meanwhile, I need to go check on the stuff that's in the dryer and see if I can figure out how to square away the bedding, towels, etc.

TTFN.

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Okay, so the rest of the world probably thinks I'm crazy. But a week ago, we were smugly congratulating ourselves that summer was ebbing, with temps in the low 80s and overnight lows in the 70s---and now it's mid-morning and it's 65 degrees!!! That's in my office. The National Weather Center has the outside temp as 54 with a high of 68! Honestly, this is the coldest it's been since late March.

J is back in town after an eventful trip to see her dad in Maryland---her traveling companion, TRT, needed emergency gall bladder surgery in Tennessee. However, they did eventually make it to her dad's and a good time was had. I'm going over there Friday or Saturday evening to catch up---hopefully my jury stipend will have arrived by then; I need gas money.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day doing laundry. A couple clean blankets would be nice, because I don't really want to shut the windows. Although it might tone down the hellhounds by a few decibels....

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Tomorrow, BigRed is lunching me at Ruby Tuesday. I've been studying their menu online---the only thing I know for sure I want is the Italian Creme Cake for dessert. Otherwise, I'm browsing the site going, "Hmm, that sounds good. Or that...oooh, asiago?!"

With the need to be civilized in public, I've got laundry happening. Went out there thinking I might make a stab at the laundry room, but getting a load into the washer was all I was up for. It's still a little too warm for prolonged effort.

It looks like I'm getting a "new" microwave---PJ and AI have remodeled their kitchen, and their old one is up for grabs. It's twice the size of the one I've got (which was also secondhand), and I look forward to being able to cook with ALL my Pyrex and Corelle, not just the small pieces that fit in that dorm-sized microwave. Of course, the new one is going to take up a whole lot more real estate on the counter, but everything's a trade-off....

I've been writing a bit this week. Got a little treat for someone (backstory!), and have been trying to concentrate on my CAYN fic. It's already about two-thirds done---I started it a few years ago---and I know where it's going. Getting there...I have to get back into the rhythm of writing. I need to get it finished in good time to allow a beta time to go over it, and it's definitely going to need a beta; I've revised it numerous times over the years, tend to lapse into present tense AND my POV is prone to wandering.

Time to go respin the spin cycle---I read where that saves wear and tear on the dryer.

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I've got bedding going in the dryer, and I just finished putting away a drawerful of panties. System: The farther back in the drawer, the older/larger they are. I've still got a few pairs of JMS14s, although these days I can get comfortably into a 12 (or 13, I have them too, and they're newish compared to the 14s).

Yesterday, I was absolutely overjoyed to wear a certain blue-and-white cotton skirt to church. The skirt itself I got circa 1988, probably last worn 1990ish---but I love it and kept it, despite having gotten rid of a LOT of other things I despaired of ever wearing again. I'm glad I kept the faith, because it's back in my active wardrobe!

The print is two shades of blue on a white background, kind of palm-frondish. I wore it with a navy tank top. I accessorized it with an asymmetric necklace of mother-of-pearl and coral and red ballet flats. Add to this the fact that my hair has FINALLY grown out enough that I no longer snarl at my reflection in mirrors (It only took three months!).

I don't always feel good about myself. My weight has been see-sawing back and forth, up and down the same five pounds since April, or thereabouts. I'm fifty-something, my skin has lost its firmness, and when I take my clothes off, I look like a shar-pei. My teeth could land me a part in The Grapes of Wrath. I don't wear make-up because there's always something better to spend money on, and between thick glasses and minimal eyelashes, bone structure and thick hair are all I have going for me north or the neck. Well, that and brains, but I don't think anyone but zombies wants to look at THEM.

But one thing I *AM* happy about is the fact that this whole entire year so far, I've stayed under 300 pounds, which is the first time I've been able to say that since circa 1990. And, while the number on the scale hasn't made the downward progress I'd like to see, that five-pound range I've been hovering in is in the low 280s, which I regard as quite satisfactory.

Basically, I'm trying to relate the following philosophy to the status quo:




oxo

Laundry. Holy, crap, have I been doing a lot of laundry. Digging and washing and sorting and hanging and finding hangers! And more hangers! And more frickin' hangers and more frickin' laundry---yesterday, I was pulling stuff from down under the hanging bar that spans my garage. Found stuff that had fallen off hangers, stuff that had fallen off the ironing board, stuff and more stuff, and just when I thought I was getting to the end of it, I parted the clothes on the bar, like parting the Red Sea (or in this case, the Pink Sea), and discovered to my utter horror a pile of bedding, spreads and comforters and blankets---at last three, more like four loads all by itself. *whimper*

Mind you, I found a nice skirt I'd completely forgotten I owned, TEN pains of panties, which is a Very Good Thing indeed, and some stuff that made me go, "Why do I still have THAT?!" So I'm benefitting from my industry and making progress, it's just not happening as fast as I'd like it to, but then, what ever does?

Still, the Universe was very good to me yesterday. I got dressed and dragged myself out to pay the light bill (FPL--Florida Plunder and Loot). I checked the mailbox and found a darling card with a picture of a black Labrador Retriever* on it from pwcorgigirl and an equally charming GC for Aldi's.

I hit WalMart first for another phone card, then Aldi's, where I invested in some things that food stamps doesn't cover. Went above and beyond the GC, planning to pay the difference with food stamps. Except the register wouldn't ring it up that way, there was no manager in store and lines backing up. They wrote off the overage just to get me out of there. $14 worth of goodies! They've got their Christmas delicasies out, so they're especially yummy.

Then I took care of the FPL bill and went home with a sense of accomplishment. Spent a quiet evening, then this morning I put a load of laundry into the dryer, stopped by Publix to get a raincheck on some diet Cheerwine at the current sale price and on to J's for a meeting about dog training. Fingers crossed, it looks like there *might* be some money in it!

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* Or as a photographer of my acquaintance calls them, "black light-sucking dogs", because either they're a black hole in the picture or they're washed-out looking; apparently it's very tricky to get the exposure Just Right.

I'm in the process of reclaiming my laundry room, I've done three loads of laundry in the last 48 hours, and sorted a bunch more. And that's just the stuff that was already out there, heaven help me! There's lots more strewn around the rest of the house. But...gotta start somewhere.

My "new" iPod has been saving my sanity. It gives me some games to entertain myself with, and the notes function---well, it's not as versatile as actually being on line, but it beats scribbling longhand. Last night, I actually commited fic---or what'll probably be the first half of one, the first thing I've written in months. (SPN/Sons of Anarchy crossover, FWIW.)

Sunday afternoon at the library is fast becoming a habit. In a while, I'll go over to J's and check my email again and stick around for OnceUpon a Time*, which is rather interesting so far.

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* But not in Mexico.

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I came over for media night, which we got to after a lengthy discussion of potential dogs. This entails J telling me what the owner's complaints are and asking me what *I* see as the problem and how to solve it. I'm getting pretty good at it.

Anyway, after the dogs, we had a nice chicken and veggie lasagna (Stouffers) and watched "The Golden Compass", which I hadn't seen, although I read the book several years back. It was okay; I was expecting MOAR Daniel Craig. Apparently they're not essaying the sequels. Bummer.

The a/c is even more welcome than the 'net. This summer is beyond hideous; lately it seems like any time I go anywhere I get clammy, light-headed and nauseous about 20 minutes in. Not that staying at home is much better, but there I tend to be sitting or lying down---I've nearly given up on cooking, anything that takes more than five minutes is out.

Tomorrow I need to do laundry. Yes, laundry happens, but SOME of it wouldn't have happened if one (or more, IDK) of Mb's cats hadn't pissed on it.

And some people wonder why I don't like cats.

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Last night, Mb and I wandered over to the mall for a little while...it was nearly deserted on a Monday night. She bought me a slice of pizza at Sbarro, which was good at the time, but it or something is really cleaning me out today, and I suspect heat-lamped 'za. Still, I've got laundry in the works, so I haven't been completely useless today.

Also, I went to smartusa.com to look at Smart Cars, and discovered to my utter delight that the houndstooth car I featured a picture of the other day is a real option, not just something they did for the car show. No paisley or leopard print among the wraps they offer, but there are some rather nifty options such as woodgrain, harlequin diamonds, a splash patters, and a red snakeskin that's kinda fun. Of the available wraps though, the houndstooth is still my favorite.

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I got two loads of laundry done---one of which was a giant comforter. The other was pillows, which I had to wrestle out of the washer, because they puffed up when wet. They're destined for the guest bed. Actually, I washed four pillows; they all started out limp and flat.

I'm happy to report that they're all now nice and soft. I slit open one end on each, extracted the filling, and spent the evening in fromt of the TV pulling it apart and restuffing them one at a time. Then I hand-stitched them back up, one after the other. Presto, four clean fluffy pillows for my guest

Bathrooms. Still need to do the bathrooms. Find the blender. make room for the blender. Clean out the fridge. And The Pile will be much reduced if I go through the Shred or Sort boxes.

Otherwise, I'm not going to fuss with it (The Pile) any more. Yes, there are some boxes to thrift, but at this point, that's pretty much ALL there is. GK is renting a minivan AND we're going thrifting Tuesday (and probably hooking up with BigRed while we're at it)---so why burn gas? We can schlep it in one load then. There's still plenty of room to walk around them.

Now that it's technically Wednesday, GK will be here the day after tomorrow!!!

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It's that time again---time to make another attempt to scale Mt. Washmore. Arrrgh!

After looking lovingly at pix of orderly, even decorative, laundry rooms online, I went out to the garage with the determination to reclaim my laundry area.

The past few weeks, I've been opening the door and flinging stuff out there. To get to my detergent (stored on open shelves over my washer), I had to ascend a heap of bedding and miscellany. There is laundry going around, but the heap is not significantly reduced.

There's so much stuff stewn around that I can barely move; reason tells me that sorting it is the best way to start, but there's no room! Even four simple piles,Bedding, Clothing That's Staying, Clothing That's Going, Other---are too much for the space. So, laundry and more laundry.

The carton of hangers I've collected went out there with me, and I went through about half of them just hanging up stuff from the pile atop the dryer. I figure I've got at least 8-10 loads ahead of me to resolve the pandemonium. And THEN I can start tackling the organization of it all.

I realize that those pretty rooms are carefully staged by set designers before they're photographed. At the moment, I'd settle for SAFE and tidy. I want to get behind the dryer and into the corners and declutter the shelves. I want my supplies readily to hand, I want to be able to iron without having to unearth the ironing board.

Most of the laundry rooms I've met IRL are either tiny walk-throughs leading to the garage or the outside or in a hallway, or they're in the garage, as mine is, but of them all, I'm fortuate: I actually like mine best. I just want it to be the best little laundry room it can be, is that so wrong?
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Laundry is happening. (It's in the dryer now.) I'm not on target as to the load-a-day strategy, but any laundry is good laundry, right?

On the way back from starting laundry, I rearranged my cupboards/pantry. I made room for all the tomato products and pasta in one place, while all the other canned veggies and beans are elsewhere.

And, geting really productive, I cleaned out the three top shelves in my fridge. The fridge clean-out is my greatest achievement; one of the reasons I haven't been cooking for myself (as opposed to sandwiches and things fried or nuked for immediate consumption) was because there was NO room to put the leftovers.

It's amazing how we'll do disagreeable things we're been putting off to avoid things we perceive as more unpleasant. The living room, oh God, the living room! I don't know where to begin! Honestly, I think it's some kind of domestic retardation...I just look around, slack-jawed; it's all right there in my face.

But. Positive. Have made progress elsewhere, that's something.
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Leopard-print cardi love! Now I just need to find it in a 2x.



Meanwhile, I've been well-occupied today. Grabbed the constantly capsizing mountain of clothes off my cedar chest. Threw a load of colors in the wash, with a load of darks waiting its turn. If I do a load a day, I think I might actually be caught up sometime around April. Found my favorite sweater, the cranberry chenille one---alas, it's probably too late to do me any good this winter!

Also spent a chunk of time organizing my tags: I realized, when trying to locate The Ghost of a Junkyard Dog that an awful lot of my early fics weren't properly tagged. Some were under writing, or fic. Or they were only listed by the fandom. This inspired me to go through those tags and many more, and now the tag "author: vanillafluffy" is teeming with fics that haven't seen the light of day since they were posted. There may still be a few things buried in the archives, but I've now got 100 entries, from multi-part tales like "Seen and Unseen", to random drabbles that were posted and forgotten, to hardcore porn, to things I'd lost track of, like my first-ever House fic (which had a total of three reader comments).

Basic math says there are another hundred stories out there (My total number of fics posted at the Pit is 156, some of them multi-chaptered.), am I'm fatigued at the thought of posting and tagging all that. Add to that AO3, which has exactly FIVE of them and is a real pain-in-the-ass to import to---! Any thoughts on what I ought to do for redundancy? (God, I wish I'd hung onto that how to code textbook that HWSNBN left behind. I could build a website on sbjb's server if I knew what I was doing.)


A few more things that surfaced, cross-posted to bystanderfic:

By Dawn's Early Light Pirates of the Caribbean, dub-con (fuck or die), has a plot

Learning Experience Once Upon a Time in Mexico, elplicit slash, my rare PWP

Fortune Cookie Batman Begins, gen, starring one of my favorite OFCs ever

Underlying Causes House MD, gen, Rowan Chase's relationship with his son

Flying Towards Destiny The Mummy Returns, pre-slash*, Jonathan/Ardeth

Theatricality Batman Begins, gen, aging OFC

Cravings Once Upon a Time in Mexico, het sex and a blind voyeur

First Choice Nick of Time, gen, yeah, it's obscure

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* This was supposed to be the whole thing, self-contained. I let someone talk me into continuing it, and it's the only unfinished fic I have at the Pit. Just enjoy this as is.

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Tweaked the dining room some more today, moving tchotchkes around. I've now got my Fiestaware displayed on the shelves in the dining room, and the shelf they were on in the white cabinet is now harboring cans that were in the tote on the kitchen floor. My kitchen floor isn't booby-trapped any more! (I broke at least one toe on that red tote.)

Swept tree fallout from the driveway when I went to look for mail. Our harsh December weather caused leaves and pollen to drop, and it's made finding the side of the driveway---a parking guideline---rather difficult of late.

I did a load of laundry---all my favorite pants were grubby---and while that was going around, I worked on a necklace I've been assembling, featuring a medallion I acquired on an excursion with ThunderBunny many moons ago. I was industriously engaged in that when the doorbell rang.

It was ang5fam bearing cookies. Yay, cookies! Apparently my mention of my mom's baking rituals inspired her, and she blessed me with some of the surplus.

Very good cookies, just the right balance of crunchy and chewy and oh-so-buttery! As soon as I was finished with my project, I took the cute little cookie tin back to where I could cuddle up with my latest book, and they were gone within the hour. Thanks again, honey!

Not huge progress, but progress nevertheless!

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Yesterday, I moved my cedar chest to get to the outlet behind it, which destabilized the mounds on top of it. So that's what I've been doing today: clearing it off.

It's still a WIP, but between the stuff there and the stuff in the garage, I've done a load of whites*. Almost done, anyway---they're in the dryer at the moment. Also have a load of darks on deck. and that's great, but now I'm frazzled about wtf I'm going to put them all when they're done. the hanging space I have there now is maybe 5 feet long and is very cramped as it is.

To that end, I'm spoken to missybrat, who's going to schlep over to Home Depot with me this evening so I can get those freaking 2x4s so I can make that freaking rack. Which means I also need to get BC to put the rod and brackets where I can get at them.

His boards were in crappy shape---he accused me of wanting "pretty" wood, and to the extent that I don't want weathered, splintery and nail-ridden, he's right. Scored a pair of galvinized saw horse brackets and a 12-foot length of metal conduit pipe, though, which reduces the cost by about $15.

Small victories, I keep telling myself....


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* Oh, and I found a pair of off-white cotton drawstring pants. Gee, they've been lost long enough for them to be seasonally appropriate again!
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I spent most of the day watching TV: WNTW, Overhaulin', The Cleaner, Leverage, Mission: Impossible, a couple eps of Band of Brothers, some Dharma and Greg---and squeed loudly when I got confirmation that Watchmen will be out next week. The titles of the first three eps of SPN are listed on IMDb, but you didn't hear them from me....

Had prepackaged turkey over free bagels for brunch, a can of chili over free cornbread for dinner. Made a speedy WalMart run for laundry detergent---I'm on my second load---and got some of the white stuff on the little cardboard rolls (as opposed to the stuff on the BIG cardboard rolls, which is either used for kitchen messes or wrapping packages, depending on the length of the roll---YES! Size matters!).

My arms and shoulders are still Not Happy---I'm wondering how long until the new mattress takes effect. Maybe I ought to try the muscle relaxers again? Because I'm at the wake-and-grab-the-Excedrin stage again, which is undesirable.

Eight weeks until I turn 49, and I'm falling apart. Seven weeks, two days until my "vacation" starts---I'm off September 5th thru 10th, although I can't afford to do anything dramatic. I'd like to have a party, but it would have to be at the church...and then what? I could scrounge up enough money for cake and ice cream, but we're all a little old for pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and I'm not sure what to do about tunes---and besides, no one to dance with.... *sigh* Please don't let this be PMS, I'm so tired of that whole business!

Threesome that would be fairly awesome: Abby from NCIS, Garcia from Criminal Minds and the chick from the Progressive commercials. Maybe solving a diamond heist at the mall, or something like that.

Okay, it's official---2AM crazy, or pretty darn close. Time to go make the donuts check the stuff in the dryer.

In my zeal to do something every day (Well, almost every day!), I've done a modest load of laundry (items I found while I was busy in my room)---including my cranberry chenille sweater and the taupe pants I've been searching for for months. It's all in the dryer now---and while I was waiting for the spin cycle to finish, I cleared off the top of my dryer and dusted it.

It was long overdue, and I was rewarded by excavating three pairs of panties, my turquoise knit dress, and a plaid top I'm going to wear to work today, because anything goes on Saturday. The rest of the week, I usually wear skirts or dresses, but today it's gonna be denim capris, my rediscovered blue plaid top, and probably my generic-Sketcher-type flats.

Added more stuff to the outgoing boxes---one truly dreadful sweater in particular!---at the moment, I'm on the fourth box of clothes and I'd like to make it up to five or six. I really need to get it all organized. I have a squillion solid knit tops in assorted solid colors, I really ought to get them all in one place and root out the ones that are over the hill. There are a few items that I KNOW I ought to rid myself of---the Clinton and Stacy voices in my head are not kind---but while I may part with the polo shirt that makes me feel like an extra on The Sopranos, I'm still not ready to let go of my Pineapple Connection shirt with the dragon on the back. Hmph, maybe I'll wear that today instead....

Also found out that, as puffy as my ankles are at the moment, they have been much worse---I tried on a little beaded ankle bracelet that I removed a year or so ago because it was SNUG, and was delighted to find that there's currently several fingers worth of wiggle room. Go, me!

Today being the last hoorah of my vacation, not to mention my last day off until Sunday, I set phasers on clean and set out to tame the wilderness. Threw a load in the washer, did some dishes, threw said load in dryer and started another load. Finished the dishes: this is the first time my sinks have been empty since...sometime in July, I think. Yes, I CAN procrastinate that much.

This is the point at which things go to shit, because when I go to check the dryer, it's stopped...and its contents are still sodden. Dead dryer. Lovely. And me kind of short on quarters for the laundromat.

Okay, fine. I'm going to have lunch and I'm going to finish watching Crossing Jordan, I don't give a fuck. Not real happy, because a) that's going to consume most of my available cash, b) laudromats are always full of screaming children c) if I'm *there* drying clothes, I can't be *here* doing something more constructive, and d) from the rumblings outside, it sounds like it's going to be raining fish any time now.

Lunch and coroners, out to garage, fling stuff out of laundry bin so I can start heaping damp clothes into it. Empty contents of the dryer first, then go over to the washer, and the penny drops. Looky, looky---the washer is at high tide. The dryer isn't dead, the #$%&ing breaker tripped.

Grrr. I'm glad it isn't dead, but I spent two hours angsting about what's going to go wrong next.

I don't want to know. Really.