I think I’m getting sick.  I have been dealing with increasing stuffiness in my head over the last few days and now I have a full-blown sore throat.  I’ve managed to avoid getting significantly sick during this time of year for several years now. 

I think it’s catching up with me. 

*sniffle*

I haven’t done this in three years.  But it’s inspiration for me to actually get it done.  I took today off to clean up the house.  We were totally out of control and with cleaners coming tomorrow and dinner guests on Saturday, something desperately needed to be done!

So, here are my before and after pictures.  I started at 7:30 AM and finished before 11:00 AM.  Not too shabby!

(All pictures are clickable.)

First, the worst room - the office.  The before shots:

And now the after shots (aftershocks?):

OK, move onto the next worst room - the kitchen.  Before:

After:

An easy room - the living room.  Before:

And after:

The dining room had become the room where old computer equipment went to die.  And also where any other big ticket items were being stored.  Before:

And then after.  I couldn’t leave the table like this for long.  I had to put the table pads back on it.  We haven’t seen the wood on this table since we got the new cats last November.  They don’t seem to understand that this table does not belong to them.  Go figure.

Even the foyer was messy!  Before:

And after:

Then I headed down to the basement, where we spend most of our time.  I feared that it was a mess, but it wasn’t bad at all!  Before:

And after:

Whew!  That’s enough for me for one day, I think.  I still have to go to the post office but I have all afternoon to get that done.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get a shower and wash the house out of my hair!  Have a good day!

We just got a new wine rack.  It was custom made and sent through the mail to us.  That sounds sort of hoity-toity, but it’s not.  For the size of the piece of furniture it is, it was relatively inexpensive (but still expensive for our budget). 

It arrived in pieces, which we were expecting, and in the course of putting it together, we found we were short by two bolts.  There were about seventy-five extra nuts, but not enough bolts.  Also, two of the shelves were cracked.

I sent an e-mail to the company and they replied back very quickly, agreeing to give us the extra bolts and replace our broken shelves. 

But I loved the way the reply back to me started.

Sorry about your rack.

Should I be offended??

Is anyone else finding that this Flickr project is really using up all of the creative thoughts in your brain, leaving you nothing for blogging?

Me, too.

It was beginning.  I could feel it rising like gorge in my throat.  It’s this stupid season.  It’s Halloween.  I would love to just skip right from Labor Day to Christmas, truth be told.  Except that I wouldn’t get this tremendous weather we’re having right now.  Cold and everything, I’m lovin’ it!

So, yeah, um, Halloween.  I was going to post a diatribe. 

But I already did.  Three years ago.  I think it deserves another go.  Here it is:

Happy frickin’ Halloween, everyone.

Ah, yes, I hate Halloween. But I love my house!

There.  I feel better now.

Well, in reality, I forced my family to do it.

I refused to turn on the heat so far this year.  It’s been in the 30s overnight and in the 50s during the day - a bit too chilly to go without heat but I am so stingy when it comes to the heat and air conditioning - because I pay the bill!

For example, my last combined electric/gas bill was $206.  That’s the lowest it has been in almost a year.  And with the memory fresh in my mind of the $400-$500 bills from the summer, I was reveling in the mild weather.

Which turned cold.  But I told myself that I just wanted to get through these last two days, which were in the 70s during the day and the 50s at night, and then I’ll turn on the heat when it gets cold again.  And we did get through them!

So, yay for us!  We still haven’t turned the heat on this year!  (I think I’ll shed a tear when we actually have to do it.)

So there I was, watching about five minutes of some stupid infomercial about skin care products.  There were two women - one hawking the product and the other hosting the show.  You know the scenario - it’s tried and true.

The woman hawking the product was talking about what the product is made of and the other woman kept interrupting her to emphasize to the audience what was just said.

At one point, the vendor told the host that the ingredients were all natural.

*Host interrupts* All natural??  So that means that it’s good for your skin!

I turned the channel at that point.  All natural = good for your skin?  I wouldn’t take that as an absolute.  Let’s talk about poison ivy, poison sumac and even thistle.  They’re all natural.  Good for my skin?  I don’t think so!

Idiot host.

Forty years.  That’s a long, long time to wait to be proven that you’re not insane.

For forty years, I have had a version of “Walk Away, Renee” stuck in my head.

And it wasn’t by the Four Tops.  And it wasn’t by anyone else I heard on those “Best of the 60s” albums.

It was one of those weird only-heard-through-the-walls-while-my-sister-got-ready-for-school songs.  It was one of her 45s.  Which I covet to this day!

I finally heard it on the Solid Gold Oldies station on cable tonight.  It’s by the Left Banke.  I’m NOT insane!  That version of the song really does exist!  I can die a peaceful death now!

Now, if I could only figure out who recorded “Everlasting Love” besides Robert Knight, I’d be eternally content!

You know, it could be the kindest, gentlest, sweetest dentist in the entire world and I’d still hate him/her.

I don’t hate him/her as a person.  I hate him/her because of what he/she represents.

My pain.  He/she represents my pain.

I hate you, dentists.  Feel free to hate me back.  I won’t mind.  I promise.

For the introverted exhibitionist, this is a dream come true, right?  I get to show you pieces of me but I’m in control.  Should be cake.

But it’s intimidating.  Like I said in my 100 Things (#84), I’m not creative but I do appreciate others’ creativity.  I don’t know that I can do this.

I was inspired tonight.  I was inspired by sadness.  I’m not usually sad.  So who’s to say whether or not I’ll be inspired again any time soon? 

I think I only jumped on the bandwagon with one foot.

1.  I dreamt that it snowed here.  Today.  When it’s going to be in the 70s.  It snowed - a LOT!

2.  I dreamt that I finally told someone exactly how I felt about him after 10 years or so.  I let it all out and demanded that he leave my house.  I don’t know why he was here - I would never invite him - but there was a big party, with people all over my house, and he was here and I forced him to leave.

3.  I dreamt the song “Sentimental Lady” by Bob Welch, over and over again.

4.  I dreamt that my son’s friend stayed over and, in the morning, had a panic attack because she couldn’t find her yearbook.  Which wasn’t a school yearbook - it was a family yearbook.

OK, now, tonight?  I’d like to sleep in heavenly peace, please!

Some days, you wake up just full of vim and vigor.  (Or is that piss and vinegar?) You face the world like you’re up for the challenge.

Other days, you consider it a grand accomplishment when you’re able to successfully brush your teeth and wipe off yesterday’s smeared makeup from under your eyes.

Today?  The latter. 

I successfully brushed my teeth and my undereyes are free of old makeup.  I call that a good day’s work.

Now I’d like to go back and snuggle into a comfy blanket and watch some senseless TV for the rest of the day, please!

Something has happened to my beloved sweet tooth!  Don’t get me wrong - I still crave the cookies and brownies and peanut butter cups. 

But plain sugar?  Can’t abide.

Case in point - Buzz and I went out to lunch two days ago.  I ordered iced tea with lemon with my lunch.  The place where we were offers two types - sweetened and unsweetened.  I ALWAYS get the unsweetened.  But they didn’t ask me what I wanted this time and I forgot.  I got the sweetened stuff.  I had to throw it away.  It made me make funny faces and digusted me beyond belief!

Now this morning?  I had some hefty dental work done last night and I can’t really chew anything so, for breakfast, I got a cup of oatmeal.  I haven’t had any oatmeal in a long time.  I proceeded to fix it the way I always used to - a teaspoonful of brown sugar and a pat of butter. 

It doesn’t taste right!  It tastes fake and WAY too sweet!

What has happened??  I can’t consume plain sugar any more?  Surely this must be a sign of the end of days!  Run for the hills!

Stealing the name of this post from my husband and modifying it to my own purposes (I don’t think he’ll mind too much), I just had to share!  Too cute!

These pictures are courtesy of my good friend, ls.  All are clickable.

I can hardly wait!!

(Did I mention that I had a dream where I was kissing Hurley?  I woke up and thought, ‘Huh.” I’d have thought it would have been Sawyer.  Or Sayid.  Or even Kate.  I didn’t expect Hurley but, hey, who am I to argue with my subconscious?)