Chickafinty ~ A Life in the Laundry

Owning up

Big Brother is back.

I am watching it.

That's all.

This I gotta see

Dropped by Grendel's blog as I often do.  His offering today?  McDonalds are soon to produce their own line of scrapping merchandise.  What the???  Is there actually a market for McDonalds papers, brads, ribbon and chipboard?  I know scrapbookers scrapbook their lives and I *know* that there is a heavy reliance on McDonalds at times - especially cybercrop nights - but a whole range of stuff dedicated to McDonalds?

I dunno.

Busy all day; done nothing

I feel like I have barely sat down all day, but can't see what I've actually done or achieved.  The day began with a doctor visit for the first infusion of vitamin C through a drip.  It seems we might be looking at about 10 such trips before there is any visible improvement.  The doctor also sent Mister Bear for a liver ultrasound as once again, the liver seems to involved in this.  His LFTs were elevated again, even further increased from the LFTs two weeks ago.  I'm going to pick up the results tomorrow.  Mister Bear goes for a second go at the Vitamin C on Friday.

We spent most of the morning either at the doctor's or with Grandma and Grandad who were kind enough to have us for lunch.  After the morning shower and doctor visit Mister Bear was totally wasted and was only able to lie on the lounge covered with a blanket.  He wasn't able to work at all today...so much for trying for 6 hours a day in two three hour stints.

Chickabid returned to school and I had a quick word with his teacher.  We're not sure whether the disruption at home is going to have any long term effects on him, but as I know of long experience, it's better for the teacher to know than to be in the dark.

This afternoon was spent in making some long over due appointments and writing on two Easter cards for a couple of friends.  I know it is nearly Anzac Day, but at least I remembered that I bought the cards.

The rest of the day, such as it is, is going to have to be divvied up into strict 15 minute flytimes.  My head is so all over the place that it is almost impossible to stay focussed.  I am morphed into a total SHE and it doesn't sit comfortably.

More treatment

Forgot to mention before that Mister Bear has another intravenous vitamin c treatment tomorrow, this time with a drip rather than a push.  We're not sure that he has had any positive outcomes from the last two, but we're still hoping that this might be an answer.  The only really good thing about this episode of PVFS is that he is not as sick as he was in 1998.

Old things in a new way

Everything is chugging along with no major hitches, but I'm on a really steep learning curve.  I'm learning how to do old things in a new way.  Take getting up in the morning.  For all but 6 months of our married life, Mister Bear has been the first one to get up in the morning.  He usually flicks the kettle on as he heads for the amenities and then makes my coffee on the way back.  The first sound I generally hear is that of my coffee mug landing on the bedside accompanied by a "Good morning, I love you".  On red letter days and weekends the coffee is filtered too (Mister Bear grinds the beans himself) and not the instant that it is on regular days.  This might not sound like a *hugely* big deal, but if you take into account that Mister Bear hates coffee with a vengeance and never drinks the stuff himself, it takes on a whole new meaning.  Have never read it myself, but I am sure this must rate a mention somewhere in Five Love Languages - if it doesn't it should.

But nowadays, Mister Bear is not up to getting up in the morning, let alone before me.  As in so many ways, I am learning just how dependant I am on the Bear.  We're a team, Mister Bear and me, and having him sidelined has made me appreciate him to an even greater degree. 

So far, the getting up has been not too foul but Chickabid has been on holidays and we've been a bit relaxed in terms of get up time.  Chickabid goes back to school tomorrow and I have to pick up the warp and weft of a normal daily routine.  The next nine weeks have taken on a whole new significance as they may be my last nine weeks of SAHMness.  Work may loom permanently at the end of that period, but we're all trying to not think about that for now.  I'm thinking along the lines of not worrying about what the future holds because I know who holds the future. 

My new scrapping space

One of the bonuses of the new set up in the study is that I have a proper scrapping space with lots of desk.  I like lots of desk :)

Here are the first photos of the desk with (some) of my craft stuff set up already.  Most of it is in the cupboard under the tv in the family room and there are scattered bits in the playroom waiting to be shelved, stored etc in the study.  I am only unpacking one bag at a time this time and each bit-of-thing in the bags has to justify its place in the room.  I am feeling so overwhelmed and smothered by clutter right now and I cannot wait until the rest of the house is modelled on the principles of William Morris...Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

I have been flying on and off for years - about five or six years all up - and I love the line from one of the Flylady songs "I've still got piles of clutter/Cos I'm not superman/But I'm not down hearted/I'm just getting started/Gonna jump in where I am".

Then the chorus says it all:

It won't be perfect tomorrow

And it won't be perfect next year

But I'm still flyin' baby

Gettin' my life in gear.

For the moment at least the study is 90% perfect.  Enjoy!

The Promised Photos

Apologies to those on dial up as this is photo intensive and it will take a while to download all the pictures.

I present some before and after shots of the paint work.

No, I am not a perfectionist

...but, I am printing out the DDS to make sure that all our non-fiction is correctly shelved.

Edited to add:  The Dewey system is driving me around the twist.  Am sticking to just putting the non-fiction in logical groups.  Logical to me, actually, not necessarily logical to anyone else lol

Withdrawal

Am suffering from serious withdrawal as I am not net-enabled for most of the day now.  Mister Bear has to be connected to the VPN to successfully work from home and until we get our hands on a multiple port router - I think that's what it's called - we are restricted to one connection.

The study is now painted and the furniture (or part thereof) is installed.  There's a bit of a story attached to the furniture.  It used to be the workstation/office desk of one of the important people at Mister Bear's work.  It was surplus to requirements or something and they were going to throw it out!  Mister Bear got word of this and thought it was too good to be scrapped.  He asked the CEO if we could have it and he said yes.  So, we are the proud owners of a *very nice* workstation.  Actually it's too big to fit into the room in its entirety, bearing in mind that the room we have put it in is 11 foot by 12 foot, so only one half of the workstation is installed...but it is enough to be going on with, I think.

I am engaged in sorting all the books and reshelving them, alphabetically of course.  I think that it says something about the eclecticism of one's book collection when War and Peace immediately precedes The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4!

Pictures of the amazing study transformation available, with any luck, tomorrow.

I'm here

I am here.

I am very busy.

Mister Bear is working at home and we have a single wire/line/port/whateverthingy router so I am off the 'net during working hours.  By next week we should have a different router, a proper home office, a VOIP connection and some semblance of sanity here, but I wouldn't count on it.

My mum and dad have been here for a couple of days helping with the trnasformation of the study.  Dad is working on the doors as I write.

I STINK because I've been wearing my painting clothes for almost three days straight...I know that is probably TMI but there you go.

I have sold three of the things from a certain party plan company that were cluttering the craft room.  They sold for the princely sum of $1.99...not each, that's what I get for all three combined!!! and the woman who bought them lives around the corner so I don't even get anything for postage.  After selling fees I have made the extraordinary sum of $0.79.  I am not amused.  At least there are three less things cluttering our house.  In future, I give away on Freecycle.  It's not worth it.

So, basically I am here, but up to my eyeballs on stuff.  I hadn't realised just how much Mister Bear does for me in the course of a day.  I *need* that man like I need oxygen.