What? You didn’t know I’d left town?

January 25, 2012 at 8:49 pm (Adventures, Day Job, Living History, Rendezvous Report, Writing)

Yup, I did! I went on my annual trek to the rendezvous in Florida. It was a little different this year because of Dad’s back surgery last September. They’re staying down there for a couple months, so we day tripped the rendezvous instead of camping. On the plus side, Eric flew down with me and stayed for the long weekend, which was a lot of fun. He’s been to rendezvous before, but the Alafia is in the same place and at the same time every year, and it’s huge. I think I heard they had around 1,300 campers this year. One of the really fun things was that the tin type photographer came back. Great timing, since Eric was with me! In case you missed it on Facebook, here’s the picture we took together.

Later in the week, Dad, Linda, and I went back to take a “new” family photo:

Yes, I’m Scottish in one and English in the other. I switched back and forth depending on how hot it was!

It wasn’t all fun and games this year. I did actually work a little. I read through what I have so far on “Honor” and, quite frankly, found it to be far more shallow than I want. I had time to think through some things to add in, but I’ve got to do some more research on the Rising before I make definite decisions.

In related news, I found out before I left that my day job is ending in April. The Boss has decided to retire, and if we don’t find a buyer for the restaurant, we’re closing it down. It was a shock at first, but we all agreed that it’s time to move on to something different. I liked office work and wouldn’t mind getting back into that, but I don’t really want to work full time. At this point, a flexible schedule (in terms of scheduling time off rather than shifting work hours) is more important to me than getting top dollar, and I suspect that might be hard to find, especially in this economy. However, I’m confident that if I’m meant to have that perfect job, it will become available at the right time. For now, I’ve decided to increase my work hours to 25-30 so when I do get the perfect job, it won’t be a shock. Since I can’t control the day job hours, I’m going to fill in with writing. Next week I have 22-25 hours scheduled (depending if I need to work a shower on Saturday). We’ll so how that goes. I’ve gone public with it now, so I’ll need to stay accountable!

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Entropy

January 9, 2012 at 10:03 am (Homefront)

It started a few months ago. The dryer started beeping randomly. Not much at first, but it got to the point that we had to unplug it when it wasn’t in use because the beeping would drive us crazy. When the repairman came out, he made a quick diagnosis for which a part needed to be ordered. Since he’d finished so quickly, I asked if he had time to look at the water heater, which had been making scary rumbling sounds, sometimes loud enough to hear downstairs. That turned out to be an easy fix.

Next, the heater on the hot tub went out. I’m not sure when it went; it may have been before the dryer. It wasn’t a big deal because we hadn’t been using it. The weather and our schedules kept us away. With winter here and Alex home on break, it became more of an issue and a repairman was called.

I thought we had everything shipshape again until Eric started a brisket on New Year’s Day. When he turned on the oven, the gas came on, the igniter clicked, but it didn’t light. We played around with it for a few minutes (after opening a window so we wouldn’t get gassed), but we couldn’t find the pilot light. You’d think it would be obvious; the inside of the oven isn’t that big! The next step was to turn to the Oracle That Is Google. There, Eric learned that our 7-year-old stove is no longer manufactured, but that it should be a matter of replacing the igniter. Fortunately, Mom bought us a roaster oven a few years back that usually sits in the laundry room gathering dust. It saved New Year’s dinner and a couple dinners since. It does take up a fair amount of counter space, but when I’m not using it, I store it handily in the oven.

I hate to even say it, but that leaves the washer and the dishwasher. Hopefully they’ll wait until summer to get wonky so we can spread the repair costs out a little bit!

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Lightening

January 6, 2012 at 9:46 am (Decluttering, Homefront)

I’ve been working half-heartedly on decluttering for quite a while. It has consisted mostly of putting things I don’t need into boxes to (eventually) go to Good Will. The trouble with doing it some at a time is that the Good Will boxes themselves become clutter. Add to that the large boxes I’d put aside for later Good Will runs, and you get what looks like the start of a hoarder binge.

Yesterday Alex carted off what I had so far to donate. The sum total was two boxes and a full duffel bag. I really wanted to have more ready to go, but that’s what was ready, so off it went. This morning, Eric took the big boxes from the dining room out to be recycled. I was busy making tea and dealing with hungry furries, so they were half gone before I realized it. The spot looked so open and clean (granted, the carpet was squished, but that’s an easy fix) that I didn’t stop him from taking the rest. It’s amazing the difference just getting those few things out made.

Tomorrow there will be a big push. Some of the Christmas decorations have come down already. Tomorrow, the tree and everything else will be packed back into my office closet to rest up for next year. I have some new baskets to find a function for. They would have gone into the donation box, too, but I’m a sucker for a pretty basket, and I can always find a use for them. Maybe we’ll have an actual clean start for the year.

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