Baskets

My roommate found some old baskets we've had since the last place we lived. He asked me if I could use them and showed me how they could fit into a cubby on my shelf. I didn't think they could, but my spacial sense is wonky. Anyway, I switched things around from what I was using to those baskets and it made everything so much better.

My best friend asked me tonight how the organizing was going. I told her it was slow, but what we'd changed continued to maintain integrity, which is always an important part of any organization project. If things just go back to being a big mess, you really accomplished nothing. In this case, things are actually working better.

I'm also happy that we're using things we already had instead of buying more. Now, the caveat here is that I do have two new storage items (the one under my monitor and my side table), but both of those were gifts and not things I bought myself. The only purchases we've made involved buying a new faucet set for the kitchen, but that is more of a house maintenance issue than part of the organization. It makes the house better, but it wasn't part of the plan.

Mind you, plumbing rarely is.

Progress

The plumber came today. He was supposed to show up yesterday, but plumbers, man. They never show up on time. He showed up today and fixed the sink. Now we have a better sink situation and that is a good thing.

This is one more bit of progress for the house.  Yay!

Goal Update

So my goals for the year were to organize my desk area and to use up things I've been keeping around for years. We're a couple of weeks into the new year and I thought I'd assess how I'm doing.

Organization: I'm doing well here. So far my desk rearranging is retaining integrity. I had to find some sticks today and they were a lot easier to locate than they would have been in the old setup. I didn't feel frustrated and defeated when the task was finished.

Right now, my main problem with my desk involves a couple of solutions I did a while back to keep cables and headphones reasonably organized. My new chair is making that solution rather unworkable. I need to suss out some new solution for that.

Using Things: I have managed to use through two of my gifts from Christmas and I'm working steadily on one of the infinite chapsticks I've stashed around me. I also repurposed some old empty kitchen storage. It's being used now instead of just taking up space.

Look, I know it's just a couple of weeks into the year, but honestly, for me, this is a major level of continued goalkeeping. I am proud.

TV Stuff

The roommate and I have been watching Sabrina on Netflix. I'm pleased with it. The aunts are delightfully funny and the overall tone of the season is good. I find some of it hokey, but I guess that's just the nature of the tone the show is trying to set.

They also posted that the last season of Game of Thrones will begin on April 14th. There was a small teaser with it. I have to admit, I felt a bit excited.

A Dad Story

I talked to my dad the other day and he told me about one of his crazy musician friends. As someone who has been in bands since he was a teen, my dad has A LOT of crazy musician friend stories.

This dude was an addict, who got off on three things. 1. Vodka. 2. Controlling how much vodka was in his system. 3. Petty theft. Dad said he would purchase the largest bottle of vodka he could. That was part of his ritual. Massive amount of vodka buying and then this strict adherence to how much of it he would consume in a day. This amount would be enough to get drunk, but not so much that he got sick levels of drunk and then puked. This sounds crazy, but not as crazy as the stealing part.

Ol Boy loved to steal but realized early on that he really didn't want to be bothered with fencing off stolen goods, so he decided he would only steal small amounts of things. He would steal candy from closed candy dishes. He would steal cans of soup he assumed no one really wanted. Sometimes when music work was slow, he would get jobs at rest homes and steal change from the patients.  It wasn't about the stuff, so much as it was just the act of stealing.

Jan Assessment

So far, this year has been weird. The government is shut down. A lot of things are in flux. It's wet and gray. I'm in a fairly good mood.

I planned out my next phase of my blanket. I'm rather excited about it, to be honest. This blanket is turning out more lovely than I thought it would, but I suppose that makes sense. I believe yarn WANTS to be something.

I got new headphones today. I needed them because the old ones were dying and dead. The new ones have a slight design on them and they're cute.

Work in Progress

I started my next row on the blanket. It's the last variegated row I'll be doing until the very end. The next section will have a different kind of thing going on, then it will end, as it started, with the variegated. This will be several weeks away, of course.

I'm glad I'm doing it. It's making me happy to just work on my little ten stitches at a time. It's also helping me to get better because it's a continuous practice of your basic knit stitch. It's been good for my mental health.

I think that's the best think about this technique. It's easy to learn and it's a constant repeat. The only complicated part involve short rows and they're technically not difficult, you just have to pay attention to your count.