Chipping Away at the STUFF

Back in November, I wrote about my plans to clear out the office closet before this year's (American) Thanksgiving, and making calendar reminders to work on it monthly. I've done some work, but haven't done a ton so far; this weekend, I decided to take another stab at it. 

Again, my plan isn't to get rid of everything, but to assess everything, since just looking at what's in there, I can tell there are things that can go. I moved here coming up on eight years ago (!), and there are things I moved down here with and haven't looked at since.

My first stop was the shelf above the hanging space. This morning, it looked like this:

Yes: a mess of stuff. You may notice there are no hangers below, other than the hanging sweater holders: I moved all the hanging clothing into my mother's (enormous, walk-in) closet to assess those there before moving anything back in, once the space is ready. I've worked on that here and there, but that part of the project isn't quite done. 

Almost all of the clothing that was on that shelf, and a number of purses/bags, are going to the thrift store:

Here's what the shelf looked like after that:

I'm keeping some Bruins sweatshirts, even though I don't wear them often; also keeping the hat, and a few purses/bags. I decided not to tackle the photos/albums, nor the bag of journals and date books. Not today! Can't do it all in one day, as my back and my hands like to remind me (ow).

Then I took another look at that space, and at something in the closet below it that could go up, and now it looks like this:

Cat carriers belong up there!

I'm not going to lie, I have miles to go on this project. But this was a good day's work. My hands are glad that I stopped when I did, but I can feel good about this, and do more another day.

A Quick One for Now

It's been a long time since I shared the funny movie ratings from the Boston Globe, but I have been screen-shotting them and will do so again. For now, though, here's one I just can't wait to share, and not for the explanation at the end, but for the stars.

ZERO stars! And even more, the explanation behind the rating:

I don't go to the movies often, and I would never have gone to see this anyway, but wow, that is a scathing review.

Would you also avoid it, or would you perversely be more likely to go, just to see if it could possibly be that bad?

A Hockey Annoyance

I don't write about hockey all that much here, but I remain a strong Bruins fan, despite no longer living within the team's broadcast area, and subscribe to whatever means necessary to watch all the games. We get the level of cable TV that includes NHL Network, and our cable also includes ABC, ESPN, and TNT, all of which sometimes get games; then we also subscribe to ESPN+ for all games that are not nationally televised. We are covered. 

Or, as it turns out, almost.

The league, in its infinite wisdom, considers the part of Florida where I live to be home turf for the Panthers, even though it's a two-hour drive away. Thus, the games are blacked out from watching through the ESPN+ app. We have to get the games the way Panthers fans do.

And how is that? Well, via local TV stations, except that instead of getting that channel through cable, the closest one broadcasts games via something I don't fully understand, but that requires an antenna to get. Or, I could subscribe to the Panthers streaming service, which this late in the season is marked down to only $24.99. 

For one game? I don't think so, thanks. I would pay a dollar, or let's say as much as $5 to watch this one game, but I do not want it $25 worth.

So, tonight Mom and I will watch a game from last night. It seems the last-place team in the league, Vancouver, beat the top team in the league, Colorado, by a score of 8-6. Sounds like an entertaining game!

Still Knitting, BTW

After I finished the rainbow socks, remember them?

I would up another lovely rainbow:

And from this single stitch:

Socks will again grow.

Then, after finishing the Nixe shawl, remember that?

I grabbed this beauty:

To start another shawl.

Recently, I've been wearing the Valente shawl I made a few years ago, and it really does stay in place so well, unlike some shawls I've made. I decided another one was a good idea.

Betrayed

This. This is the face of ultimate betrayal.

His claws really needed trimming--in my opinion, which he did not share--and he is not a willing participant in that process. No blood was drawn, but I am not his favorite person right now. Which is too bad, because shortly before this started, I think I was.

His mistake was in grabbing at my arm without sheathing the pointies. 

This Ridiculous Cat

Fresh from the couch tonight, it’s a sequence of stretching interrupted by a yawn.

Right Place, Right Time

On Sunday evening, I was sitting on the couch, scrolling through Facebook, when I came across a listing in the local free-things giveaway group where someone was offering an Ikea 4x4 cube, and looking for someone who could pick it up that night.

As you may have noticed in my photos over the years, I have a bunch of these; they're great for yarn storage. For a free one, I could absolutely go out that night! And considering she was about 10 minutes away, it didn't even take that long.

It fits nicely right there, holding my purse and knitting project, and the bins that are soon to be filled with yarn.

Very satisfying!

And it's in perfect condition. She said they were using it as a dresser until they got one. I have no idea why they wouldn't use it for something else, but hey, why would I care? Mine now!

Cat: Broken in the Best Possible Way

Newman regularly sleeps next to me on the couch, and as you've seen here before, he can sleep in some odd positions. But one thing he does a lot is stretch out and then hold the pose, waiting for me to notice him (and sometimes falls back asleep in that position). 

I call this pose "contents may have settled during shipping" or "how do you know that you aren't the one who's upside down?" Behold, over the last month.

Such a flexible little goober.

Showing Pride, in an "I have a rainbow problem" Way

Some people I know* said that they were going to the nearby Pride Fest next month**, and I want to go and show my support.
*Not fully friends, I don't know them that well, but friendly acquaintances, I guess? 
**No, I don't know why it's in April, either.

Which of course calls for a few things! Like a new shirt:

And a button from the same source, since I like the message:

Then, since I have to bring my stuff with me, I can't be any other way, and the festival, like more and more venues these days, has a "clear bag" policy, I needed a clear bag. I don't love ordering from Amazon, but look at this:

Rainbow strap! Love it! 

I ordered lovely rainbow shoelaces: 

But I made a rookie mistake and didn't notice the length, even though it was very clear in the listing. They're close to twice as long as I need for my sneakers, so they're going off to be in a friend's boots.

Then of course I started looking for more pins, and well, I may have a problem.

But it's a problem I'm okay with. Along with some that I already had, I'm putting together quite a collection.

I also finished the socks I was knitting, which will be perfect to wear to the event.

The yarn actually tended to be a bit splitty, didn't love that, but I can't argue with the colors!

Words

If you are a word nerd, as I am, you should be following Merriam-Webster on the social media of your choice.

These people are both clever and funny.

Of Calendars and Trackers and Lists and Reminders

Suzanne wrote recently about how she was forgetting things, and how to keep on top of things, which made me think about how I try to keep my own train on the rails. Spoiler alert, it doesn't always! Sometimes all the holes in the layers of Swiss cheese line up, and things fall through. But I have some methods that help.

These break down into three categories, which have some crossover: calendars, lists, and alarms.

Years ago, I found myself regularly writing and re-writing to-do lists and plans, and as I got sick of shuffling multiple pieces of paper, I came up with a bare-bones combination format, sized to print on a regular 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. 

The top half was to-do items, broken down by whether they were things to be done at home or out, on the computer or a dreaded phone call; the latter two were separate because if I just had a list of things to do at home, I would do some things on the computer, and later notice there was something else to be done on the computer, and be annoyed. (Anyone else remember the days before smartphones, when sitting down at the computer was a bigger deal?) These days, I don't usually use this, but it helped for a long time.

The bottom half of the page was a weekly calendar space.

At the time, working in offices, I would get home after work only to remember that I had meant to stop at the library or the store, so I started noting not just concrete items like appointments, but also intentions. 

Again, I haven't used this format in a while, but it certainly helped at the time, which would have been before I started using the Google calendar. I'm addicted to that now, but at times I use other methods as well.

First, for use by both my mother and me, we have two dry-erase weekly calendars on the side of the fridge. I rotate them weekly, using one marker color for Mom's things, another for mine, and a third for items for both of us (like watching the Bruins games).

This way, either of us can see at a glance if there's a conflict when planning something (for instance, I need to schedule an oil change, so I won't do it on a day when Mom has an appointment).

I also will sometimes use a 5x7 card to sketch out the coming days. It started when I used the back of something printed on that size card stock, but I like having it stand out a bit from regular paper.

As with the old way of doing it, this allows me to "pencil in" things that I wouldn't put on the google calendar. On Sunday, we were going to see a play, and that was on both calendars, but only on this are the plans: to have lunch first, and to stop at Norman Love, which meant I should bring an ice pack for the car.

Speaking of the google calendar, I use it not only for appointments and other fixed events, but as a mobile to-do list. 

If I don't get around to making the adjustment to my 401k on Monday, or calling to make the oil change appointment, I'll just move those over.

Right now I have another piece of the card stock with a few lists: the names of the people joining me for dinner on Friday, things I want to get next time I'm at Walmart, and things I want to get done this weekend. Like looking at that library book before it's due back!

In recent years, I have become a big user of alarms on my phone as reminders. The two main ones I use are to:

1. keep track of when I can next take ibuprofen, because otherwise I forget when I last took some
2. remind me just before stretch class, so I have time to go to the bathroom and log in to zoom

The stretch class (which I first heard of through Engie, thank you Engie) meets three times most weeks, at different times, and it's in Wisconsin so a different time zone from Florida. I have the classes on my google calendar, but I would never make it to a class if I didn't use alarms.

I frequently set other alarms, though, for things like:

• getting into the shower on a weekend in time to go out for an appointment
• unlocking a neighbor's door in two days to let a worker in
• changing my sheets, because otherwise I won't remember until bedtime
• calling a place that isn't open yet, because again I will forget

It has now been probably 15 or 20 years since I started telling friends, "If I say 'I'll have to remember that,' please hand me a pen. Because I will not remember." These are things that help.

In conclusion, cat: