The theme for 2016 is purge and organize and we did a lot of that this weekend. Over the holiday I we did a bit of antiquing to look at furniture for the house. We have been looking for a new bigger buffet to replace the 1960s buffet I got from my stepdad when I moved out of the farm house. Additionally, we've been looking for a different solution for the tv stand since we've been using the coffee table I got in my parent's divorce which they bought new in 1980-81. It originally had the coffee table, 2 end tables and a curio cabinet. We are now down to just the one end table (until mel makes an arts/crafts bookcase) and the curio. Very shortly we won't have those either. :)

We had found a few things we liked and went to go pick them up. Got the hutch at one place and went to get the item we picked for the TV stand and realized we didn't really like it. Hit the 22nd street antique mall and found a very pretty little dresser which we both loved. Got it home on Friday (after we had seen a movie, picked up my 1950s sewing machine (with new case!) etc), had dinner and then thought it wouldn't take us long to get things moved and sorted. Well, the tv needed a quick box to sit on so the Bose could sit under it. Mel slapped one together in the family room and then when we shifted things the paperback bookcase decided to fail and that had to be fixed. We were up pretty late but the results were dramatic. Plus we moved the trash can and the fruit stand and the opening into the family room is now so open and clean its amazing.

Before with the DVD racks already moved:


After with the new handmade dvd rack in place for placement (still needs the upper section completed):


Saturday mel went up to the Lie Nielsen Toolshow and I got working on taking things out of the buffet and cleaning the house while I waited for the buffet and a music cabinet to arrive. I got laundry on as well and after the furniture was delivered and we had a play date with Inara I got the xmas lights off of the house and cactus and put away. Then Ben and I ran errands which involved getting a new trashcan (with pet lock), new boots for Ben and some game stuff.

New Buffet:


New Music cabinet:


Got home from errands and mel was just getting home too. Ben was outside running around while we got dinner ordered and thought through our plans for the rest of the weekend. Mel was determined to get the dvd rack finished. I was determined to get the studio redone. WE managed to get the studio cleaned up enough for the reorg, got the old buffet moved into the studio when we moved the cubicle thingy out.

Sunday we got up and I went to drawing with Erika And Bridget. Got home and helped Bridget change a light bulb in her truck, load the cubicle stuff into her truck and load the sewing machine I was giving her and some old artwork. Then I got working a bit of lunch and then Willa came over and we started in on the studio. We did not get everything done. If we had started in the AM, maybe, but we purged through all of the cubbies, reorganized the items and put them away in the buffet with room to spare plus moved the filing cabinet and all of the yarn/fabric storage. I can now get to all of my yarn stash in one spot. Plus the door opens all of the way.

So Before (looking in from the door):


Before Looking from the opposite wall:


After (looking from the door), still needs work on the shelves and cleaning my kiln off:


After looking from opposite wall:


So, lots to still purge and clean but the floor space is amazing. I'm going to work the shelving on Tuesday and then Willa and I can get the yarn/fabric purged on Thursday. I had dinner in the crockpot which turned out good (Salisbury steak thing). Then after dinner I ran two errands and bought two lamps for the living room and one for Mel's side of the bed. And we both got our laundry put away and folded. I need to purge towels and sheets cause good lord is that closet a mess and we don't need that many of any of it. Plus I need shoe storage which IKEA may have the solution for.

Here are the new lamps:

The light is amazing and the house is really happy. We just need to rehang a lot of art work since my county needed to come down off of the wall. But that will be Friday/Saturday since that involves acrobatics on the piano to get things hung correctly.

The changes are slow but January will bring a lot of the purging completed we hope and to get things moving towards a more adult house.

Friday we did a date lunch that involved the Roadhouse Cinema and use seeing Star Wars VII while eating lunch and drinking beer. The movie was awesome. Quite a few unexpected moments and why couldn't we have had that type of movie for Eps I-III? More on that later. But both mel and I are now doing lots of thinking on it. Not how the plot went in our heads and completely left field from the decannonized Zahn novels.

Well, I got home from work and got the dough on for the breadmachine to make and then I cleaned up the kitchen and picked up around the house. I needed to pick up a few toppings so I headed to the store. Mel texted me while I was there that he landed and that was awesome.

Got home and go the dough out to rest and browned up hamburger for one of the pizza's and I chopped veggies for the rest. I made a hamburger and mushroom and a pepperoni and red pepper. Mel's only complaint was that they needed more salt but that was easy to fix. He got home while I was putting toppings on and he settled in after unpacking. The girls were so happy to have him home they both flopped on him and got snuggles. He also got to feel the podling fluttering around my tummy and that was cool. I was on my feet from when I got home from work until the pizzas were done and it felt so good to sit and eat dinner with him.

Scribble folks started showing up and we had a good size group. Folks got to see how easily the IKEA table converts to expand. I will have to move the table back to its normal position for game night but it was a bit nice and cozy for folks at scribble.

elinor_dear came with ickaimp and that was awesome. I was not in the artistic mood. I know awful isn't it? I'll be getting back to things tonight I swear and so I chatted with folks and then ended up playing zombie dice with Icka and Erika and later Ari. What a fun game. Seriously easy to teach and then you can chat and play really easily too. It will definitely be making it into the basket for events.

Mel and Mingo took a look at the dishwasher and we also, like robo_markov we have plastic stuck in the machine. Though for us its in the bottom drain filter. Weird. I'm wondering it if pieces of the packs of detergent that are supposed to dissolve and didn't. I'll have to look at the pieces and see but that is my current theory. Mel said he'd tinker with it this week but its gonna be hand wash for a few days. I'm okay with that. The new sink and faucet make doing dishes really nice.

It was a good evening. Everyone had a good time, the pizza was a hit and I got to have mel home. The girls even snuggled with us which was also good. Though I think its finally getting cool enough for them to want to snuggle. It was 66 when I headed to work and I think a bit cooler at work. I had to grab my shawl I left in the car on Saturday for the walk into work.

I finally got the go ahead to our medical group here at work for me to get my flu shot. Though i had to go to medical versus the shot clinic in our cafeteria. Eh, It was a wonderful morning for a walk. Though I was held hostage for longer than normal due to being pregnant. Eh. All good and now vaccinated. My arm hurts though which is annoying. I tried not to tense up. Oh, well, I guess I'm more delicate. Lol.

So, good day. Depending on the weather I'll head out to practice this evening with mel. I hope to hang out and chat with folks. I will also be heading to LA fitness to check it out after work and see if I like the facility.

Well, its been hit the ground running today and I still need to add up my hours for the last few days to figure out what I have left to work this week. Lots of stuff hit the fan when I was gone and well, its still here stinking. But a few bright points are on the horizon on some other issues that made things icky.

Mel has been dealing with the cooler some more and our ladder is missing....Richard do you have it? I think we need a new water filter to fix it for good but mel's been good at working on it...Thank you honey.

I'm gonna try to get a good long but easy bike ride in today. Not push but get distance out there...we'll see if the hubby wants to go along as long as the weather cooperates. Just still kinda messed up from the times switches...ugh.

Well, I'm up, rested, fed and caffeinated. Time to start the day. The girls were very happy to have me home for snugly sleep. I was glad to be in my own bed but it was nice to have a balcony with a nice view and the nice cool weather in Portland. Was happy to come home to richard being there...it was nice to show off the purchases for the trip, share cookies and chat. Mel bough an xboc 360 while I was gone...not happy about that but its his cash...he'll just have to make sure he's not playing it all of the time.

I slept well and only read about the first chapter or so in the next Stephanie Plum novel. I finished An Ice Cold Grave on the plane ride to tucson and that was very good, though a bit predictable. That would make #11 on the book list. The girls were happy I got up and got them fed and then it was time to find breakfast. Coffee was first though as always. I had an omelet.

Mel also didn't leave me any bread and it seems that most of our good bread books are loaned out. So, I managed to put on an egg loaf since it seems that someone (probably mingo) filled my fridge with things I don't normally buy...like milk. The bread is going well and I can't wait to try it with lunch.

So I figure I'll recap the purchases of the books and things.
2 Books on Shaker Furniture
2 books on archeology of brewing stuff
1 book on building bookcases
3 books on medieval illumination
Bob's Red Mill Baking Book (OMG AWESOME!!!)
3 Books on Spinning, Spinning Wheels/Dyeing
1 Free Deschutes Keychain
2 Deschutes Biking Jerseys
2 Bridgeport Shirts
1 Bobs Red Mill Coffee Mug
5+lbs of Dark Rye Flour
1+ lbs of Dark Rye Pumpernickel Meal
1+ lbs of Mighty Tasty Hot Ceral
1 Jar of Marionberry Jam
1 Powell's Books book bag
1 "Reading is Sexy" bumper sticker
1 Mt. Hood Post Card
3 coasters from Bridgeport

Did you know that Bridgebport is called bridgeport due to portland having so many bridges and its a port? I know that sounds like a "duh, Ianuk" but I hadn't actually thought about it and the shirt I got myself shows all of the bridges on the back.

I do have to say though that on mel's next business trip he better be buy stuff for me and my hobbies...cause man, I look back and very few things for just me and my passions. But eh, its all about us I think. The flour will be good for bread and the other stuff is good for the library and for our shaker furniture fetish. So, time to put on shoes and see if I can find the stone I need to cut so I can carve my mold...then get the house picked up a bit and work on documentation. I was very glad I brought my laptop since I did get a very good run on writing...much further than I had been the previous week.

Oh, so if you haven't figured it out...I'm not going to barmaids...some me time with my projects is sounding really good...I've been on the road/air too much of late.

Well, work was pretty good actually..especially for the type of day it was (read monday). I was very, very busy running to and fro to the factory. We've had multiple repeating issues creep up again and we're trying to smack them down but certain processes make things difficult and well, certain people make things difficult as well. By the time I got home I wasn't feeling very well...and I was tired. I curled up on the couch a bit and fell into a hard sleep with Obsidian snuggled up with me. I awoke feeling mildly better but not really. Mel and richard were in the shop and I motivated to get something done. Richard came in for a break to watch good eats and we chatted a bit. The cable was being weird do to the wind but we managed to watch a few things. I had hummus and flat bread for dinner...not much else was appealing. Mel came in for dinner (he had sloppy joes) and we all chatted for a bit while I got pictures taken for documentation. Ari called cause mason got the flu and we cancelled scribble. Richard headed back to the shop and mel took a cat nap (meaning he napped with the cats). I woke him up in barely enough time for him to make it to kung fu. Yeah, I suck, I didn't go to class but suck it.

It was nice to have an evening home and then meg dropped of zippydclown's knighting scroll, ickaimp dropped off the rest of the stuff for coronation and Sioux dropped off the scroll I have to callig for Saturday. Us girls chatted for a while. It was nice to have some BFF time and see eye to eye on a few things. It was nice to chat with the girls, it was nice to share some fandom moments with the Icka...it was nice. And through it all I worked on documentation and when folks left when mel came home I dug in my heals and started really cranking on the writing. Finished up the how I made everything and design sections and just have cleanup and use sections left. Hopefully I can get that done tonight, review tomorrow and print thursday. Sighs. Was up rather late and have been going on high since I got here this AM. My leg hurts again...luckily glenn is back from jamaica. Not sure on practice...it will all depend on how I feel.

I did manage to get an underdress cut out and I managed to catch about 2/3 of Meet the Robinsons which I will have to see from the beginning. It was fun, I think Walt would have been proud...except for maybe the odd style to the animation...that took some getting used to. I went to bed earlier than I have in weeks and I tucked in with my book by 10pm. I read for a bit and realized...oh, never, ever make deals with fairies...it never works well for you. Then I fell asleep. I woke up when mel came and turned off the light on his side of the bed. I thought the power had gone out...silly me. I fell back asleep and I guess he finally came to bed around midnight...not sure. He was wired from fighting (as usually happens). I get tired from fighting but I'm a girl and adrenaline doesn't do that to us. Eh.

I slept well, no weird dreams. The cats didn't snuggle much with us..though obsidian was ruling the roost. At least I think that is what happened. They are still hissy with each other and won't sit on the couch with me but they will the floor. Its weird.

So after the long day yesterday, I hope today is quick. I have to take the car in for an oil change (its 3 one in 18k miles) and then it will be home to make with the sewing. I really want a new dress for the weekend.

Well, last night wasn't kung fu. I fell asleep on the couch, expecting the husband to wake me up and he didn't. I spent the evening working on my embroidery for fibergeek and argent_lupin. Went to bed pretty early to the sound of helicopters circling the washes...not sure what was up but we kept the outside lights on. I slept wonderfully and was dreaming of england (I'm thinking of going to KWHSS 2008) and slept in till 7am. Had a nice morning and got breakfast with richard at joe's.

Now I'm updating the lj and watching tv. I'm gonna get my studio up to bead standards (move everything flammable). I hope to make beads this weekend and finish my embroidery....yup nothing special or pressing. All good.

EDIT: 130pm - Embroidery Done. Man it was only a few more hours of work. Sighs...wish I could have gifted them off at Great Helm. But better late than never.
So here's a picture of the finished product - Embroidered Pillow Cases.

Well, I've been up (minus about 4 hours of napping) since about 1am Milan time on Saturday morning since I couldn't sleep. Its about 530pm tucson time and well, I'm tired. My bags made it and we had just in time happenings all the way from Milan. All good. I'm gonna shower and then nap with the girls until the boy gets home.