Mini Vacation

Good morning!  My Internet access is being wonky this morning, so I’m writing this offline and will post later.  All the same, it’s Sunday, and the last day of my four-day vacation.  A vacation, you say?  Yepper.  As of January 10^th, I’ve been at my current job for a year, so my vacation time kicked in.  One week of paid vacation for each year worked, plateauing out at 3 weeks of vacation a year.  And, the nice thing is that we don’t have to take it all in one fell swoop (swell foop?):  we can take a day here, a couple of days there.  So, since there are just two days (Friday and Saturday) between my two days off each week, I requested these past two off to create a four-day vacation!  (We can’t take vacation days between May and September when it’s just too busy.)

As I expected, the days have FLOWN by, and I’ve gotten only a small portion done on my dream To Do list.  But, knowing it would inevitably be this way, I’ve also been very good to myself in the sense that when I felt like cuddling up to watch a movie in the middle of the day, I’ve done it!  And, I did take a nannying gig which pretty much ate up all of Friday (9:30 – 4:00).  But, it was a WELL-paying deal that was definitely worth it:  these folks are very generous to me.  :)  It was a little, 2 ½-year-old boy I’ve had before (with his older sister), but this time it was just him and two (very nearly three years old) adorable twin girls.  Fraternal twins, not identical, so that was very fun.  And the girls were VERY well behaved, even when the boy clocked one of the girls in the face with his toy!  But she got him back later, turning to me immediately (almost before he’d started crying) to say, “But I told him I was sorry!”  ;)

I figured we needed a "project" for the day, so I scanned the cupboards and came up with enough ingredients to make chocolate chip cookie bars (all white sugar since there was no brown and real maple syrup in place of . . . vanilla?).  We had to crush chocolate bars up to serve as the chocolate chips, so I gave the kids a bar each, and told them to whack the heck out of 'em!

ANY time kids are *told* to break something is a GOOD time!  ;)

When the dough was ready to be pressed into the pan, I scrubbed their little hands, rolled up their sleeves, and told them to go to it!

All done!

One of the things high on my list for this stretch of time was getting to my desk so I could get some Chicken Mama (photography) stuff done.  Namely, more cards.  I *really* need to revamp the stock I have in one of the stores in town.  I haven’t made it there (to the desk) yet, but I hope to do so today.

Working and organizing in this small, stuffed-to-the-gills space is hard because there’s really no place to PUT things while you try to organize one area.  So, it’s a slow process – one box at a time, really.  But, until there are PLACES to put the STUFF, it’s basically impossible.  Therefore, getting shelving and the like up has been the main thrust.  I got two big kitchen-dishes cabinets up, first (one of which had been taking up precious floor space in here).  Next came two shelves right by those.

The 'Before' the kitchen cabinets.  Yes, I know - a DISASTER!

And, a 'During'.  (You'll have to sit tight for the 'after'.)

Then, two shelves by the stove went up (for things that are better kept warm – like makeup, face wipes, liquid soap, and – ummm – red wine!).  A three-shelf unit was screwed to the wall at the top of the ladder to the sleeping loft, and the bedside light was finally "installed" on the top shelf of that unit (with a trip to one of the storage units for the right shade).  

Lastly, last night, I got the shelving unit up over the bed.  I’d originally thought myself VERY limited-space-inventive by using the spaces between the Craftsman-style headboard and the window sill for books (see below).

But then, only once I was sleeping here regularly and the cats had been moved to stay, did I remember that one of a cat’s most favorite places to lounge is . . . windowsills!  And so the books got knocked out onto the bed with regularity.  So now, with the new shelving up, the books are up high, and the windowsill is open and free for the little furries.  (Speaking of fur, you REALLY notice how much they shed when you’re all living in SUCH a small space!  Cough, cough, and . . . YUCK!)  Perhaps you should buy stock in lint rollers, the way I’m using them!

Now, I’m at a standstill until I find the shelving brackets that I’m 99% sure are somewhere underneath all the STUFF downstairs.  I considered attempting the big task last night after supper, but it was just too much of an ordeal . . . particularly when I need to boot Tucker outside to do it so that I can use the space that his big chair provides.  So, I watched a movie instead.  (‘The Help’ – I recommend it!)

With the shelving that’s gone up, though, I have gained SO MUCH (relatively-speaking, of course!) floor space already!  Now, Tucker and I can actually have feet-on-the-floor at the same time!  (You think I’m exaggerating?  Ha!)

So, with that, I’m off to tackle the Big Pile that lies between me and those brackets – and, handily enough, my desk!

(And, hey!  I have Internet access again.  Off I go to post . . . and add pictures!)

P.S.  In the midst of getting this post up, I got a call from some of my most favorite-est people - with whom I've been trying to get together forEVER - and we're gonna do it tonight!  So, throwing in a shower at my folks' and a trip to the Co-op for some of the salad fixins for dinner, my work time will be very limited this afternoon . . . but WELL worth the "loss"!