Odds and Ends from the Past Week

People seem to have the impression that I'm a busy person.  I think because I post about the weird stuff I do, and there is a fair amount of weird errands and tasks, but when things get really busy, that is when I go all near-radio silent.  That's what it's been just recently.  It has been a huge cluster of stress and tasks and things for...however long it has been since I last wrote an entry.  A week?  A week and a half?  I have lost all track.

Andrew's father came to visit during the final weekend of Forbidden Planet, which was wonderful in many ways and also added another complicating factor to a very busy time.  Fortunately, he was very understanding of our frantic schedule and I think he had a good time even as we were scrambling to get things done as well as make sure he was getting a good taste of the Twin Cities.

I saw several shows last weekend, including A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The Cripple of Inishmaan And A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie.  All three shows were great and impressive in their own way.  I skipped the final performance of Return to the Forbidden Planet for the sake of prepping for strike for that same show.  Which went...relatively OK, I guess?  I'm not sure it could have happened at all without my tools (some of which were bought in a last-minute bit of anxiety shopping) and the numerous enthusiastic cast and band members.  There were SO many staples on that set. I hate staples.  I did also end up both on top of a 7' tall pile of platforms AND in a dumpster, so that is a good day, right?  In the spirit of "Pictures or it didn't happen..." I give you Me in a dumpster with a new small and cordless saw:

Some pieces of the console were too long to fit into the dumpster without cutting.  I had actually cut them by the time we thought "oh, this is too crazy, take a picture."  Thank you Chris Engelhard for taking and the photo and for spotting me as I hopped into and out of the dumpster.  Good times.

After stressing a lot about a lot of things, Andrew and I were talking to the boys about upcoming events and somehow Andrew ended up saying to them that the move was just a lot of work, which we're not afraid of. The thing that had been stressing me out was fear of judgement.  And I realized that is SO true and also such a big waste of time.  As I said on Facebook this week: "I've got things to accomplish.  I should not be spending my time worrying about making everyone happy."

About that, I sent a few mail-order gifts and have a couple more internet gifts to send.  Mostly I am blowing off Christmas again in favor of stuff like building and striking that spaceship show and moving.  And not being insane.  My kids don't have a lot of demands or expectations, so that helps, and I am letting go of the idea that I have to make Christmas happen for everyone, as though it were a very small-scale but far-reaching production.  I am not sure if this is good because it makes me happy or bad because it disappoints others.  But then again...I'm not Santa Claus.

I will say, I do feel like most of the most worrisome things have been crossed off my list.  I am a bit concerned about the impending move.  There is still a lot of stuff in this house that needs to get moved AND a lot of stuff that I don't need or want.  And the fact that they are still fairly mixed up together is perhaps a bit of an issue, but I just need to work on it.  Packers arrive on Friday.  Movers carry our big furniture for us on Saturday.  It will be FINE.

On the positive side of things, I do have the kitchen in the new house fairly well set up, so we really can just start living there as soon as the beds are in place.  I have cooked several meals in that kitchen and really am lacking only a few more items.  The question then becomes what to do with the rest of the stuff that is in my current kitchen?  Donations, probably.  Or if you need a kitchen thing...let me know.  I probably have a duplicate that you could have.

We have been using the Strawberry Fields Wedgewood at the Eagan house this week.  The other dishes are at the new house now and have been making me very happy.  We discussed that at lunch today, and I said that I really had not been enjoying the Wedgewood at all.  It feels...heavy, clunky somehow, and has some silver marks that are not so pretty (at one point I tried to remove them, to no avail).  Andrew said he agreed. B said he agreed too.  I said "So you don't want those dishes when it's time to move out on your own then?"  He looked a little pained and shook his head "no."  Poor  dishes.    They aren't bad, they just aren't really what any of us loves.  Though J says he is "OK with them."  Still, speak up if THIS is your dream china:

Cause I'm thinking of maybe giving it away...

And now...a picture of the cat that I managed to revive.  She found a purse.  I assure you, as cluttery as this counter currently looks, Andrew worked on it very hard to get it to this point.  Here she is, Felicia, the Cranky Cat, who seems to like us more than she used to since her brush with liver failure, but not a lot more:

Up next:  More cleaning and moving, some painting and a lot less time shuffling kids around because...They are on vacation, that's why!!