Monday, December 1, 2008
NaNoWriMo
I attempted NaNoWriMo this year. The result was interesting. Normally I like to plot book concepts fully before rashly moving on to writing. However, I have this habit of finding little plot holes and enlarging them to the point that I determine the book infeasible and scrap it.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Still Moving
We're finally moved! While the house is in a nice house in a good neighborhood, we're not sure it's precisely where we want to be. It's in town but only just so and it feels very ostentatious to be up on a hill looking down over things. I like being a little deeper in town. We're somewhat in walking distance to downtown but the distance home makes it less likely that we'll make that walk.
The residents bought a house nearby and have been slowly moving their things out of our house even though we are the contract holders. It's very irritating to be unable to put your stuff where it goes. We actually spent 4 days with half of our stuff on the lawn while the previous residents' things were securely locked in our house!
It's day 5 and we still don't have the full garage AND their ridiculously huge dining room table is in my dining room (it's too heavy to move or we'd put IT out on the lawn) while mine is in pieces leaning against the hallway wall. Their excuse for not getting their stuff the heck out: they are stressed out about their new house. They didn't give themselves enough time to complete renovations before moving in. I think money is also an issue. However, none of this is our problem. We still had possession of our old house for a full month at the time we moved. If it weren't for the fact that my husband's rheumatoid arthritis makes it less than ideal for him to do lifting beyond the absolutely necessary, we'd have hauled it all out to their lawn by now. Grr.
Normally I'm a very forgiving and understanding person but, honestly, giving me the excuse that a panic attack is preventing you from moving your stuff out of my house is ridiculous. I should be having a panic attack. My stuff is on the LAWN! One of my daughter's art works was forgotten on the lawn underneath stuff and it's now ruined thanks to this nonsense.
RANT DONE
Anyway...
I just want to get my life back on track. The kids are in new schools. Sid is annoyed by this fact while Lolly is perfectly happy. Lolly is only upset that she's doing P.E. testing. I think she is worried that she's too much of a wisp because she doesn't have the strength of the average kid. I've been told (but I don't know if it is accurate) that dyspraxic children tend to lack upper body strength so perhaps this has something to do with it. In any case, these tests establish a baseline. So there is nowhere to go but up. She'll get over it.
We're expecting Sid's best friend this weekend. And next weekend. And the weekend after, etc.. She likes to get out of the house, loves spending time with Sid, and her mother extends her this freedom so I don't see any reason to refuse her arrival. They'll have the nooks and crannies of the town all figured out before long.
The residents bought a house nearby and have been slowly moving their things out of our house even though we are the contract holders. It's very irritating to be unable to put your stuff where it goes. We actually spent 4 days with half of our stuff on the lawn while the previous residents' things were securely locked in our house!
It's day 5 and we still don't have the full garage AND their ridiculously huge dining room table is in my dining room (it's too heavy to move or we'd put IT out on the lawn) while mine is in pieces leaning against the hallway wall. Their excuse for not getting their stuff the heck out: they are stressed out about their new house. They didn't give themselves enough time to complete renovations before moving in. I think money is also an issue. However, none of this is our problem. We still had possession of our old house for a full month at the time we moved. If it weren't for the fact that my husband's rheumatoid arthritis makes it less than ideal for him to do lifting beyond the absolutely necessary, we'd have hauled it all out to their lawn by now. Grr.
Normally I'm a very forgiving and understanding person but, honestly, giving me the excuse that a panic attack is preventing you from moving your stuff out of my house is ridiculous. I should be having a panic attack. My stuff is on the LAWN! One of my daughter's art works was forgotten on the lawn underneath stuff and it's now ruined thanks to this nonsense.
RANT DONE
Anyway...
I just want to get my life back on track. The kids are in new schools. Sid is annoyed by this fact while Lolly is perfectly happy. Lolly is only upset that she's doing P.E. testing. I think she is worried that she's too much of a wisp because she doesn't have the strength of the average kid. I've been told (but I don't know if it is accurate) that dyspraxic children tend to lack upper body strength so perhaps this has something to do with it. In any case, these tests establish a baseline. So there is nowhere to go but up. She'll get over it.
We're expecting Sid's best friend this weekend. And next weekend. And the weekend after, etc.. She likes to get out of the house, loves spending time with Sid, and her mother extends her this freedom so I don't see any reason to refuse her arrival. They'll have the nooks and crannies of the town all figured out before long.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Movement
We're moving! I'm excited! We're only moving about 70 miles away but it's enough to start afresh. Hubby's been making the commute every day. It's not a bad drive but the worst part has certainly been the gas prices and, sometimes, the weather.
The house is about 65% packed. We dug through our house and got rid of extra stuff. I had no idea how much we had accumulated. So I got rid of the dead weight. I'm still convinced that 15% of what we're moving will be deemed "excess" when we I unpack but it's really hard to tell until I've been living in the house (and accesorizing it). I used to think I traveled light through life but now I've been hit with the revelation that this is patently untrue.
Something I wish I would have started when I began packing:
Making a database or at least a list of our possessions, categorized with serial numbers. I've heard that this can be advantageous for those who find themselves filing an insurance claim or police report in the event of a loss or catastrophe. Now that I've got more than half of our things packed, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to do it. I've considered making such a list as I unpack but I have a feeling it will go too quickly for that. I don't like to live out of boxes and with the kids starting school right away, I think its best for them to at least have their lives in order as soon as possible.
Things I've learned from packing this time:
*The liquor store has THE best free boxes. They are sturdy because they have held liquid and glass, they often have dividers, and they tend to be similarly sized. The boxes stack great because they are both sturdy and around the same size across the different brands. The dividers are great for many things. You'll end up with extra dividers but these are good to cut down and stacked between plates and other fragile items.
*You CAN use newspaper for packing material, even around objects that you don't want the printing to touch. Just get some plain packing paper, tissue paper, or paper towels and wrap the objects in a layer of it first. Then crumpled newspaper can be used to properly pad them. The objects won't have pesky newsprint stains. I suppose I'll have to be careful to unpack the newspaper and wash my hands before removing the unprinted inner layer of packing paper.
*Small boxes are BETTER than big ones. When they are packed, they are much lighter. I packed our huge collection of books (minus a micro-collection I've assembled for the time period between when I pack and unpack) into smaller boxes. This way they can be carried easily. I suspect that the truck will have less air pockets because we'll have smaller boxes going in.
*Don't fold over your boxes to close them. They are better when TAPED CLOSED. This way the flaps lay flat and the boxes are more solid when stacked. But I do offer this tip: fold over the very end of the packing tape before taping the box shut. This way you'll have a tab for pulling off the tape. I'd rather not loose track of the razor knife as I unpack.
*Write labels on all four sides and the top. Put the location of the room on four sides and the top. No matter how it is loaded into the truck, you'll know just where each box goes and how it should be treated. On top give a little info about what's inside. On the sides words like "heavy" and "fragile" help determine how the box is loaded into the truck and who can carry it.
The house is about 65% packed. We dug through our house and got rid of extra stuff. I had no idea how much we had accumulated. So I got rid of the dead weight. I'm still convinced that 15% of what we're moving will be deemed "excess" when we I unpack but it's really hard to tell until I've been living in the house (and accesorizing it). I used to think I traveled light through life but now I've been hit with the revelation that this is patently untrue.
Something I wish I would have started when I began packing:
Making a database or at least a list of our possessions, categorized with serial numbers. I've heard that this can be advantageous for those who find themselves filing an insurance claim or police report in the event of a loss or catastrophe. Now that I've got more than half of our things packed, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to do it. I've considered making such a list as I unpack but I have a feeling it will go too quickly for that. I don't like to live out of boxes and with the kids starting school right away, I think its best for them to at least have their lives in order as soon as possible.
Things I've learned from packing this time:
*The liquor store has THE best free boxes. They are sturdy because they have held liquid and glass, they often have dividers, and they tend to be similarly sized. The boxes stack great because they are both sturdy and around the same size across the different brands. The dividers are great for many things. You'll end up with extra dividers but these are good to cut down and stacked between plates and other fragile items.
*You CAN use newspaper for packing material, even around objects that you don't want the printing to touch. Just get some plain packing paper, tissue paper, or paper towels and wrap the objects in a layer of it first. Then crumpled newspaper can be used to properly pad them. The objects won't have pesky newsprint stains. I suppose I'll have to be careful to unpack the newspaper and wash my hands before removing the unprinted inner layer of packing paper.
*Small boxes are BETTER than big ones. When they are packed, they are much lighter. I packed our huge collection of books (minus a micro-collection I've assembled for the time period between when I pack and unpack) into smaller boxes. This way they can be carried easily. I suspect that the truck will have less air pockets because we'll have smaller boxes going in.
*Don't fold over your boxes to close them. They are better when TAPED CLOSED. This way the flaps lay flat and the boxes are more solid when stacked. But I do offer this tip: fold over the very end of the packing tape before taping the box shut. This way you'll have a tab for pulling off the tape. I'd rather not loose track of the razor knife as I unpack.
*Write labels on all four sides and the top. Put the location of the room on four sides and the top. No matter how it is loaded into the truck, you'll know just where each box goes and how it should be treated. On top give a little info about what's inside. On the sides words like "heavy" and "fragile" help determine how the box is loaded into the truck and who can carry it.
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