Holiday Spirit

Lee bought me this little tree to put in the media room. It matches the red theme (and my coworker pointed out, makes it look like a bordello, but never mind her--she thinks my red fixation is impressive, actually). Since that's the room we are in the most, I thought it could use more than a couple of lights and some scary nutcracker ornaments. Now I feel a bit more cheery, though we will take down the topper--it's too big and falls off.

I am doing as much as I can to calm myself and bring cheer. I was losing the battle for a few days, I am afraid. Not getting that poorly compensated job put my anxiety into overdrive and I began having BAD symptoms--like chest pains bad enough to keep me from doing anything, and fairly severe dizziness/head tightness. The symptoms seem to have calmed down since yesterday afternoon, when I felt like, hey, at least I got my knitting goal done and I did some decorating. I even cooked soup. I just need to get through the next few weeks--I am sure something good will come up, or I will enjoy teaching knitting.

So, to add cheer, I took a meme off of a nice blog I read by Jo. She took it from someone else. I figure this will make me think about "other stuff" in the background while I do technical writing in the foreground.

50 Endless Answers to Questions

1. Elaborate on your default icon: It's a photo of me with my light-colored hair, where I look very, very happy. I was all in love and stuff. Still in love, of course.

2. What's your current relationship status? Engaged (tee hee hee) to the kind and wonderful Lee. Planning on a wedding around Halloween of next year. But you knew that.

3. Ever have a near-death experience? I was a bit concerned when I rolled my car after hitting a patch of black ice on a country road in Illinois. But, I lived. I am not really worried about it.

4. Name an obvious quality you have: I am not tall.

5. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now? Sigh, "Let It Snow."

6. Any celeb you would marry? Pierce Brosnan. Nice. Handsome. Not available. Nor am I.

7. Who will cut and paste this first? Lee or Saranda.

8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity? Sally Field. That's about it.

9. Do you wear a watch? Yeah, I have one pretty nice one and others that are for fun, but the fun ones are all running low on batteries. I like them as jewelry.

10. Are you pierced? Once in each ear.

11. Do you have any tattoos? Nope. I like looking at them, but don't need one for myself.

12. Do you like pain? Some would think I do given previous relationship choices. I do have a really high tolerance for pain. But I'd prefer to avoid it.

13. Do you like to shop? Yeah, but not too often.

14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? Yarn for kids' Christmas hats.

15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit card? Groceries. Whee.

16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? Tuba Boy.

17. What is on your desktop background? On work computer, a photo of the Cliffs of Mohor in Ireland taken by Beccano. On the desktop at home, Scrunchy's giant head. On the new laptop some photo that came with the computer, because I have not decided what I want to make for that one.

18. What is the background on your cell phone? Autumn leaves that are red. Came with the phone but I liked it, and the phone is red. My theme color.

19. Do you like redheads? Oh yes oh yes oh yes. That's why I am one now. Best is the redhead I made for myself, Beccano.

20. Do you know any twins? My grandmother was one. And my kids have some twin friends.

21. Do you have any weird relatives? Now really, who doesn't?? There is a LOT of "eccentricity" in my family, especially on the maternal side.

22. What was the last movie you watched? In the theater, Pan's Labyrinth, at home, sigh, Shaolin Soccer. It cracked us up.

23. What was the last book you read? Other than knitting books...I am currently reading that book about Baklavah that I borrowed from Saranda. It is good, even if the exact title has escaped me.

24. Is there such a thing as love at first sight, or is it more likely to be lust at first sight? There can be some kind of recognition, like you knew someone before, or something, but to truly love them you need to get to know them. I recognized Lee pretty quickly.

25. What's your favorite book? The Robin Wood Tarot book. Well, it's the book I have read the most times.

26. When was the last time you visited the street where you first lived? Well, not since I was tiny. I visited the street where I grew up three years ago when Jeff and I stopped in Gainesville on the way to visit his mother. It smelled good. That is why I want to go home.

27. When was the last time you googled your own name? A couple of months ago--wanted to check to see if something was still on the web. It isn't.

28. What was / is your favorite subject at school? Chorus. Then Spanish. Then English.

29. What was / is your least favorite subject at school? PE and I HATED it. Made me feel so incompetent.

30. Do you like having your photograph taken? It's OK. I look nice in some pictures. In others, I like more accurate, ha ha.


31. What time were you born? 6:30 am Eastern time. Virgo rising.

32. Ever seriously questioned your sanity? I am weird, but I am fine.

33. How many phone numbers do you have remembered and can say off the top of your head? 8

34. Can you Limbo? No. Scoliosis doesn't help.

35.Have you ever killed your own dinner? Fish.

36. How long have you been living at your current residence? 10.5 years. Have been in this town 11 years at the end of the month.

37. What phobias do you have? Guns, motorcycles, nuclear holocaust, being forced to live in a religious society, roaches. Not too good with heights.

38. What's your ideal breakfast? Coffee, cheese grits, egg over easy. Usually just have coffee.

39. Where are you right now? Work. My last Monday.

40. Why do you blog? I like to write and it helps me clarify things.

41. What would you call your autobiography? What's around the Corner? Suna Wants to Know.

42. What's the longest time you've stayed out of the country / where? One Ireland trip was about two weeks.

43. Do you use ICQ, AIM, etc..? Trillion.

44. Do you have nightmares frequently? No, just dreams with ups and downs. Occasional nightmares, but not too many.

45. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Yes - I am a good listener.

46. Which TV character could you be friends with? Meg on Family Guy. She needs a friend.

47. What's on your mouse pad? McNeil Mavericks logo on work computer. Better remember to take that home. None on others.

48. What is your ring tone? Depends on who's calling. Lee is "Wish You Were Here." Tuba Boy is "Sweet Child of Mine." Beccano is Darth Vader's Star Wars theme. Jeff is "Brown Eyed Girl." Everybody else is "Baba O'Reilly" (teenaged wasteland).

49. What did you watch on TV last night? The Colts p0wning on the poor Ravens. Mostly I knitted and talked to Beccano.

50. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy. I prefer comedies.

Exhausted, but Triumphant

Media Room Complete
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

We're exhausted because we worked ourselves to the bone this weekend. But the following items were accomplished:

1. Media Room complete other than little decor things
2. Beccano's room complete other than ONE curtain
3. Most of Lee's large furniture has been transported to our house

The moving is what was hard. Tina and Mr. Tina rented a truck to move the rest of her stuff, so we offered to split it with them. (We ended up applying the rental to what she owes us.) So, when they were done, after already working a long time on Beccano's room, we hauled ourselves to Granger and started lifting heavy objects.

Lee has an interesting coffee table that has a spring mechanism in it that rises to dining height. It also has a lot of drawers. This makes it even heavier than a sofabed. We have decided NOT to put it upstairs--it would kill us. His mattress is also interesting to move. it is a large, specially made futon that weighs at least 100 pounds, and it like trying to transport heavy jello. The other heavy objects (writing desk and chest of drawers) would not have been bad for two dudes to move. A dude and a small, weak woman...well, at least I helped marginally. And got some interesting bruises.

Beccano's new bed did not frustrate Lee anywhere near as much as he thought it would, and it came out well (see photo below). I am really happy with what we did with that room, and now can just HOPE he doesn't immediately trash it. He's older now. He can tidy after himself.

The media room, as you can see, looks really nice with the second denim couch installed. We want to bring in a coffee table to set drinks and feet on, but it may not be roomy enough for that. We also brought in the dresser that used to be in the guest room, and I put a lot of knitting yarn in it. Eventually that will cause the master bedroom to look better, but I am still working on that tidying process. Please look at the Flickr photos to see the writing desk of Lee's that we put in the back of the room (and Beccano room pix). We got the festive mirrors up above the television cabinet (which WILL get a bigger TV eventually), but we have no other wall art. That will be next.

The only regret is that I didn't get much done on Tuba Boy's room, other than stripping the beds so they can be removed. I'll work on it some this week and finish while he's at debate camp. This way, maybe he can request a wall color or something.

So, that's about it. Other than eating one nice dinner, we worked all weekend. Glad to be sitting at my desk, using my brain, not my brawn today.

New Media Room's Debut

New Media Room
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

OK, here are the first shots of the room Lee and I have been working on for the past two weeks.

The camera seems to have some dust on the lense (it just came out of the box), but otherwise, I am happy with it. Glad it finally arrived! It is so small and light.

We are really happy with the curtains and how well they match the red, and there are pillows on the blue couch that bring in the darker red of Lee's wing chair. Later, the two chairs will be replaced by Lee's denim couch (when we manage to get it here), and the red chair will go over by the window. Not sure what we will do with the little rocker--maybe it will be in a knititng nook.

There is more room behind the chairs. That will hold Lee's writing desk and two more large bookcases. We will be hanging mirros above the tv cabinet, and hope to put a widescreen television in when funds are available.

Still, even in its partially finished state, we love the room. It is warm and comfortable, and the new speaker system sounds wonderful. We tweaked it a bit when Jeff came over to dinner last night. Nice to know Mr. Sound Expert.

Poor Jeff hadn't had a real meal since he moved out (the oven is not hooked up in his new house), so Lee cooked pasta for us, while I taught Jeff how to use Dreamweaver. He wants to maintain his own websites, and I think it's a good idea--it is a marketable skill, and something he could do for money later on. From home. And that decreases my workload a bit.

I'm not posting photos of the kids' rooms in progress, so their stuff can be a surprise!

Just Saying Howdy

Not much exciting to report, other than home improvements, so I thought I'd say howdy to you readers. I guess it is nice to have nothing hugely major to report every once in a while!

Lee spent a lot of time over the weekend working on the media room, and it is now completely painted, has curtains, and even matching pillows we found at IKEA. Poor Lee, I forgot how badly he does in disorganized crowds, and IKEA on a Saturday is probably the worst example of such a thing. I share his issue to an extent, and get around it by focusing very hard what I came for. He was a bit traumatized, but soldiered on, knowing I needed to get certain items so we could work on the kids' rooms next.

And I did get items! A nice new daybed for Beccano, plus sheets that look somewhat like bubbles, so should match his "rain" theme room. His room will look really sharp once we put up shelves for his action figures, hang the picture, and put up the really nice curtains we also got for him. I hope it will inspire more neatness.

We also got nice new covers for the double bed in the guestroom, which will be for Tuba Boy. His room is on the agenda after I finish the office/family room. I feel good--we have made nice progress.

The only other excitement is I did a knitting workshop on Sunday, with Louisa Harding, a designer whose work hasn't thrilled me much in the past, but whose yarns I like a lot. We worked on a little bag using a lot of her yarns (it was like a feeding frenzy with women picking out which yarns they wanted!). The only negative was someone making off with my purple knitting scissors with the crystal ends. Or they got VERY misplaced (I still hold out hope: the red pen I lost came back). It was interesting hearing this woman talk about her career choices, and how having a family affected them. It was a nice break, and it was good to see so many fellow knitters in one room. But I missed Lee and hustled on home to bond with the media room (and Lee's new surround sound system)!

I've been feeling a bit moody--just worried about Jeff being so alone, my dad feeling down in the dumps, and mostly my kids being gone SO long with no contact. I have never gone so long without even a word from them. Luckily, that should end very soon. Whew. Sometimes I slip into defensive mode, too, like everything I do would bug Lee (remnants from trying so hard to please XH or Jeff but still not quite making the grade), but then I see Lee doing it, and realize that is the thing I am trying to not do, and then we tell each other to relax. Old habits are hard for both of us to break. I guess it's good to know we are all works in progress, and none of us even remotely approaching perfection!

I did an interview for another contract at ALE (my previous contract employer, if you are new) today. Mostly I did it because things were so dismal where I am now, but things have improved here, and they certainly have NOT at ALE. So, we'll see. In fact, today THREE new trainers started in the fun e-business division that sits across from me. At least I am not the only trainer in the building any more.

Any day now I will have a new camera and be able to post media room pix!!

Icky and Pretty

The Icky (posted to tarot blog, too): I was grumpy yesterday (so grumpy I didn't post) due to having actually started on the odious task of cleaning up the office and getting rid of a lot of my stuff that I no longer need. What an icky task.

I am getting rid of all the things I used in my old volunteer and work life, and that brings up a lot of tension and irritation, plus it is just so frustrating at first--it looks messier for a while than it did before cleaning, as you move things around and figure out what to do with things. I know at least 2.5 trash bags full of old things have been eliminated, and I got two bags full of books and materials from my old life that I no longer need any more (ain't helping nobody nurse no babies no more). I still have ten notebooks full of organizational magazines to empty (lots of good magazine holders for knitting mags, though), plus there are about 2.5 shelves full of breastfeeding and parenting books that will go to a new home. That will leave space to put books from the family room in here, and for Lee to put some of his office stuff on the shelves. Woo.

But wow, all that clutter adjustment makes a person grumpy. Of course, some of it is MY clutter. Mostly though, it was the disgusting area around the kids' computer that got me down. Dog hair everywhere, bletch.

In good news, we have two red walls (of primer) in the media room. Lee has the more rewarding job--making a pretty room from a plain one. The red I chose looks so pretty on two walls, and will be even more spectacular when the "real" paint goes on! The other two walls will be a golden tan, which should make for a warm and inviting room. we got red curtains and a pretty curtain rod to dress the windows up a bit, too. Can't wait to decorate and bring in the rest of the furniture.

Of course, to get to one of the couches will require starting in on Beccano's room, because we will not be able to get the sleeper sofa out of there without moving a ton of crap he has strewn all over the floor. Lovely boy. Too typically teen in his clutter patterns.