At least the storms gave way to sun. After 3 solid days of rain, the daystar broke through. It's cold and bright out, and I itch to put my hands in the dirt, when I really have no business doing so yet, given the temps, never mind that I keep forgetting to re-cover the aloe and it's seriously pissed at me. As soon as my checks come in next week, I'm going to the local nursery for some organic potting soil and break that sucker up. I know the babies under the big leaves are still OK, and would like to keep it that way.
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| Such potential!!! |
The 2nd bedroom ain't perfect, but I managed something today that I really wanted, at least for now...the closet doors close. The closet has been spilling out into that bedroom, and we've got more family visiting this coming week. It's going to be hard enough concentrating on work without kicking myself for the purging we still have to do. Which is silly, since the house is already way beyond better than the dining room of the old apartment looked for like, the last 5 years. Talk about perspective.
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| Unexciting pic, but source of pride :) |
Mom J's coming back up to visit this week, as well as LilSisinLaw next weekend. This coming week is the first year anniversary of Dad J passing, and I certainly can't blame Mom J. for wanting to be anywhere else (he passed at home). Still, now that I'm working regular and trying to find real work still, I may make myself scarce a bit. I've gotta find a job with bennies, and don't have the time to socialize. Sounds shitty, but it is what it is. If we had medical insurance, I'd neglect the crap out of work to hang with her, but until then...
I assuage my green thumb itch by going outside, moving stuff around out front, thinking about what I'd like to do out there. It's a small space, to be sure, but when I clear it and remulch, I should be able to do flowers on the borders, greens in small raised beds, and herbs in containers. Hot damn!
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| Couch is an AMAZING hand-me-down from the Johnson homestead. |
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| Entertainment center scored at a going-out-of-biz sale |
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| Kitchen we can move around in! |
We rarely had visitors at the Jax apartment, because it was such a hole, so it's not like Meara had a whole lot to compare this place to, but I think she was suitably blown away by how homey we'd managed to make it in so short a time, on limited funds. We haven't even hung pictures still, just curtains (and that in itself is such a source of pride too!) Mom called it a diamond in the rough, but given the age of the building, I think of it more as a rough in a diamond...because I just can't get enough of the mountains. My eyes soak them up every time I go for a drive, and I grin for no reason other than the relief I feel at not being in Florida anymore. The air's different here, I'm definitely more relaxed (in spite of the worry about finding a real job)...there's just so much I love about the area!
We went to the local pizza joint the first night Mom and Lil Sis were here, and it was cemented that that place will get our money whenever we have need for a break from our own cooking. Local tap beers, scrumptious handmade NY-style pizza (with meatballs!), and seriously friendly atmosphere with local music almost every night. They even prep pizza that you can take home and bake, and they deliver to our road. Oh. darn :)
That's the back of the kitchen. The washer and dryer were scored at a used appliance store by Mom J., as well as the twin bed that now sits in the 2nd bedroom, so honestly, she can visit whenever the heck she wants to, within reason, because buying those up-front would've been a bit of a hardship. We're being super-careful with money, but my goodness...it's really showing me the money I blew in Jax on fast food and other crap we didn't necessarily need, because while things are damn thin right now, we're living much more authentically, keeping off the fast food, and not wasting our resources wherever possible. Hell, even the emotional eating I do here is better for me...I made energy bars again using Terry Walters' recipe from Clean Start, and I'm making cookies this week to take care of our sweet cravings.
Instead of late Christmas/New Years' cards, I was thinking of writing letters to some of my friends. Probably a pipe dream, given I barely have time to scratch my watch or wind my butt these days, but maybe in the evenings......last evening, I was plowing through a box of mementos and found a cache of old letters from friends. Rereading those suckers was delicious. I remembered living vicariously through Katherine in Europe and at Furman, through Alexa at MIT, Egypt, and NY.....
One thing I really hate about the Internet is how it's killed letter writing. I get that as we get older, letter writing takes a big backseat to real life, marriage, kids, etc., even without the Internet for a distraction...and I was never any better at writing letters than anyone else. But still, making the effort ...
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