I just pulled the covers back over my head.
Dec 31, 2008
I had a grand plan. I was going to start taking first-thing morning walks. I was going to get up at 7am, get on my sweats and headphones, go for a nice brisk walk, come home, shower, and start churning out the support documentation.
Unfortunately, after a night spent reading until 1am, then battling insomnia until 4am (sleep in periods no longer than fifteen minutes, several bouts of getting up and doing something - loading the dishwasher, collecting garbage, tidying up the vanity a little) that plan quietly self-destructed. My alarm went off, I shut off the alarm and pulled the covers back over my head, and slept for another two hours.
Stupid insomnia.
I was able to go for my walk about an hour after I woke up. (I figured…if I’m starting the day slow, I may as well go full-on leisure.) I also drove my car to go get good cat food and get my coinage all traded in for bills. It was so nice to be able to drive without slaloming through slush or over ice. Heck, it was nice to be able to drive! I’ve still got some year-end business to wrap up, and apparently I have to call the folks providing my homeowner’s insurance because they think I haven’t paid my premium (it was paid at closing - there must just be a check snafu somewhere). Then I’ve got to write up some content, prepare to go to a friend’s NYE party for a few hours, and then just…relax. I think that I may leave that party by 11, just to get home and off the roads before the serious revelers (ie, New Year’s Drunkards) take to the streets. Thank goodness we won’t have to deal with sleet and slush and ice and snow - just normal rainy weather, and possibly some high winds.
Tomorrow: toss of the coin: do I paint the bathroom, or hold off another day? Only the shadow knows.
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It's official. I have a m-m-m-mortgage.
Dec 29, 2008
The day’s half over and I haven’t done much. I haven’t started painting the bathroom. I haven’t taken out the garbage. I haven’t started organizing the kitchen. I haven’t even made my lunch. But I have done one very important thing:
I made my first-ever mortgage payment.
This is my first owned home. I have rented up until this point. I was concerned, with the poor weather, that I would have problems getting my January mortgage payment in on time: that is, early enough not to be late, and late enough that I wasn’t really losing much interest. The bank who holds my mortgage is based in this state, so knows quite well about the local weather conditions. They know that the mail hasn’t been getting through reliably, just like garbage pickup is problematic (more so in some areas than in others - our recycling company picked up that stuff, but the garbage bin is filled. Weird.) However, when I went to my mail box today, there was a letter inside detailing not only the amount of my first payment (which I already knew) and where I needed to send all payments (which I also already knew, since it was on the closing documents) but gave a card listing ways that payments could be made, and how much each of those methods would cost. I could pay by mailing a check. I could pay by taking a check to any BankName branch. I could pay from a checking account using either a toll-free number, or a web site. I could sign up for automatic regular withdrawals from a bank account. It told me which options included a fee, when that fee would be applied (if I spoke to a live human, or if I was making the payment after my “grace period”), and how much the fees were. The bank carefully thought of every possible roadblock to people giving them money…and removed those roadblocks, then paved them over. (Smart bank.)
So I got my bagel and coffee, sat myself down, and…made my mortgage payment.
Easy as petting a sleeping cat.
Yay, me!! I’m a homeowner AND I’ve made my first mortgage payment and everything! (Though if this means I have to Grow Up Now and give up my boxes of crayons, I shall be most sorely vexed.)
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...or as close to "normalcy" as it gets around here.
Dec 29, 2008
The snow mostly melted over the weekend. Today we have rain…and high winds. I may lose power. (And I haven’t been to the grocery store in nearly two weeks…!)
On the other hand, I have batteries, mini maglites, and candles (and safe candle holders. Never mind “fire danger”, these things have to be cat-proofed.) My notebook battery is charged and ready for a long haul, if necessary. And I know that the gas fireplace works even if the power lines go down. I should be fine. I really hope the power doesn’t go out. (I’ve got some calls to make.) But - hey!! No more snow! And by tomorrow, the roads may even be passable! The biggest hazard will be folks who drive at “normal” speeds even if there’s still slush on the roads, making things a bit slicker than normal.
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I'm not an utter lump. Really.
Dec 28, 2008
I should be writing documentation for my business site. But I’m a bit to scatterbrained to think. I did get a list of titles / subjects written out, so that’s something. Unfortunately, however, a list of titles or topics doesn’t really help when someone’s trying to figure out how to get X and Y to play nicely together with Z version 2.*.1.
I should be writing up content for another site. I have the general outline. But I can’t seem to get my sorry self motivated - it’s a business that lets people set up their own business, and in this economy I can’t see how well that’s going to sell. I know that in tough economic times all kinds of “start your own business / become a bajillionaire” offers proliferate, especially on kreiggsli$t; but I really don’t like the thought of suckering in a bunch of desperate people. It’s just begging for a karmic smackdown.
I should be prepping the walls in the bathroom: applying the patch plaster, sanding it down, taping off, et cetera. I plan to paint that room with paint-with-mildecide next week. But part of me wants to wait because…well, because I have no energy. And because with the snow finally melting, I will actually be wanting to go out next week. That means that having my bathroom-with-shower out of commission for at least three days is probably not a good idea.
Instead, I’m probably going to spend the day reading and napping. Woo, the productivity.
Then again, let’s look at what I have accomplished in the past four days:
did my laundry
vacuumed the house
cleaned the kitchen thoroughly
baked cornbread and gingerbread
shoveled my back porch and front walk…with a dustpan
recommended a bunch of music to another blogger
Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. That’s a pretty damn short list.
Looks like I’d better get some content written, then.
Dammit.
(If this sleeshy slutty snow doesn’t hie itself hence, posthaste, I will lose what little is left of my mind.)
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...and snow season is finally over. At least for the lowlands.
Dec 27, 2008
The snow is finally melting. And not adding any more, not even a light dusting.
I cleared more of the walk yesterday, and this morning when I looked out not only did I still see the walk - I saw green grass. There’s still the layer of snow over much of things, but it’s getting smaller and less dense by the minute. The sound of melting snow and running water is constant. Temperatures are currently in the low 40s - which is a bit closer to normal for this area, this time of year. The melting’s happening quickly, but since there are lots of drains in this complex, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any problems with flooding.
I’ve opened the window shades downstairs and scattered some seeds on the patio. That should attract the birds and squirrels, as well as bring them in close enough to provide the cats with some good entertainment (provided they don’t bullcharge the patio door and scare off the aforementioned entertainment.) Today the roads will probably still be treacherous and ucky; but tomorrow I may be able to drive my car and go shopping. (Not that I have extra money to spend at the multitudinous post-holiday separate-the-consumers-from-any-remaining-money-they-may-have spendfests; but I do need groceries.) Meanwhile, I’m sitting downstairs in front of my fireplace, engaging in my morning rituals (the Imbibing of the Blessed Coffee; the Ingestion of the Sacred Bagel with Cream Cheese; and so forth) and enjoying the sound of rain on the roof.
Rain. Actual, real rain.
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The weatherfolk didn't get it right. Again. Surprise...
Dec 26, 2008
Yesterday morning, things were warming up. While a little bit of new snow was falling…the old snow was also falling. As melt and slush. Toward evening, I expected rain - and expected to wake up to partially melted/slushed snow and a soupy yard. Using my dustpan (for there are no snow shovels to be had in the Puget Sound region, they’ve all been bought), I cleared the walkway in front of my house as well as my back porch.
This morning, I opened the front door to see…a light dusting of snow covering what I’d cleared last night. Yep. We got more snow. (dammit)
The roads are even worse now: slushy messes that offer absolutely no purchase or traction unless you have chains…and not even then, not unless you’ve in a 4WD vehicle. I need to go shopping - layer-cake pans, chicken, milk, quality cat food, and another whack at more warm socks. I could try walking to the megastore; but I have no galoshes, and my shoes end up soaked. Waiting for the bus does little good, since bus service is reduced due to the horrid road conditions.
I think I’m going to go downstairs, turn on the House marathon, and bake a cake. And eat most of it. And somewhere in there, I may write some documentation. (But don’t count on that one too too much.)
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