So hi!

[constance]

For the past week my connection at home has been AWOL (how lucky is the person whose internet I'm pirating that s/he gets these lengthy vacations in the course of a year?), and so I haven't been able to stay in touch as much as I'd like; although the upside of that is that I have so much more time on my hands. During the course of the week, besides catching up on the usual ho-hum household stuff, I managed to:

• Give out six bags of Halloween candy (which the volume of trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood delights me, being neither too sparse nor too circus-like) while sitting on my porch reading Susannah Clarke's new book (which in terms of writers-I'd-like-to-be-able-to-duplicate also delights me).



• Disentangle my three-foot fake spider-web (festooned with giant rubber spiders) from many more feet of real spider-web to take it from my front window; my house, sitting as it does on the edge of a big wooded area, is heavily spidered, and we have all learned to coexist peacefully, except that I still have fear and loathing in my heart for the big hairy ones and also that one that looks more like a sea urchin than a spider. And the peaceful coexistence sometimes gets to be too much for the cats.



• Have lunch in, and subsequently tour, a big half-finished contruction site on a local college campus which we are building. Which you may not be impressed by this, but I assure you that it was the coolest thing ever, and it has reawakened a long-dormant and perfectly ridiculous desire to train as a professional carpenter. Building things! Is so marvelous and rewarding! And cold! But I regret not my cold fingers; I regret only that I had not a hard-hat to wear.



• Make four dog pillows, which I have been meaning to do for months.



• Do all my laundry. Yes, all of it. (Hence the reason why it's been elevated from the status of the usual ho-hum household stuff.) Even the hand-wash stuff which will sit in my hamper for months at a time. Even my bed-linens. At the moment, the only clothes in my house which aren't freshly laundered and put away are the ones on my back, one pair of pajamas, and last night's underwear. I am so proud of myself, you can hardly imagine.

It's been a good week, except that I wish I could say that I'll be in the Bay Area in a couple of weeks, or possibly that the Bay Area were coming to me. And also, I'll like my life much better once I have a wireless signal smiling up at me from my system tray.

How are you?

Comments

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I find myself wishing sometimes that the DSL would go on the blink AND that we were all done furiously chewing through every season of Six Feet Under, because, wow, would I ever be forced to be productive then!

"heavily spidered" is an irresistable phrase. I can't wait to use it in conversation.

How did you make those dog pillows? What sort of outside and innards did you use? Was it a kit, or did you make them from scratch?

I'm bereft at the thought of you not being in the Bay Area in a couple of weeks, but I'll hold out hope that you can come out one of these days, or that the Bay Area can come to you.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hee, I feel honored that you would want to use "heavily spidered"! It is perfectly apt, too, if you think of my house as being spidered the way food is, say, peppered.

***

Simple Recipe for Dog Pillows:

(4) plush blankets bought on super-grand-opening-sale at linen store; color = paprika, though other colors may be substituted

(4) twin-sized egg-crate mattress pads (better for dogs with arthritis, because they provide firmer support than simple padding does)

(1) Needle

(1) Spool thread

(1) Glue gun

(1) Package glue sticks

(1,000) Large safety pins

Cut mattress pads into thirds, making sure to snip neither the limbs nor the fur of the various pets who find the sight of a human working on the floor as an invitation to frolic. Dither for approximately two weeks on whether to sew proper covers or slap something together with a glue gun. Finally decide to use safety pins instead, thus providing the remove-and-wash-ability of a sewn cover with the slapdash craftsmanship of a glue gun. Fold blankets around padding and pin.

Serves two dogs and two cats, in various configurations and locations.

[quartertosix.livejournal.com]

I cannot tell you how much I love reading these posts from you. <3

[tofty.livejournal.com]

*beams at you!*

me?

[leestone.livejournal.com]

I'm in love with someone. And I'm pretty sure he loves me too, and everything. And we're almost never apart and for two months I've been so happy and amazed at my ridiculous good luck that I'm almost forgetting how to worry.

Re: me?

[tofty.livejournal.com]

:O What, really! I can't believe it's been so long since we talked! I am eager to hear all about him! I am so happy you are happy! I hope he does love you, as extravagantly as you deserve!

♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!

*drops dead from overdose of exclamation points!*

[leestone.livejournal.com]

But I could never be completely happy without you, which is why I'm glad your DSL is back up.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

It isn't, though. :/ I am having to sneak bits of time at work to try and catch up.