Friday afternoon things

* Maybe not having the jam bars to do was a blessing in disguise; I will be able to work more on the editing and while I doubt I will get it DONE, I will get some more of it done.

Still, I do find myself mildly annoyed by the whole situation and am reminding myself when it comes time for me to help plan a funeral for someone, to think really hard: what would THEY have wanted done in their honor? What will help the others who love them remember and grieve?

As much as I complain about having to compromise and not accept what I want, I also recognize it's not about me.

* I realized this morning that I give my first two exams (sigh) at the end of next week, so I must be sure to have a proper invigilating project going. Either I see if I can do more on the back of Augusta, or I do the last little bit on the body of Grasse Matinee and start the sleeves. (Sadly, the Great Horn-Rimmed would be like the worst invigilating project ever: all those different colors to contend with, and a complex chart to follow).

Or maybe I start the simple hats I was planning on doing - one for myself in bright "Pinkie Promise" pink, or one that might be a Christmas gift for my mom in jewel tones. Or I start a pair of fingerless mitts I want to do....

* Am thinking I might put the 'award money' (still no idea of how much it will be) towards this fall's Folio Society order. They are reprinting a v. nice version of "The Little Prince" which even comes with a commentary volume....and "The Little Prince" is one of those books you want on good paper and with the illustrations there. (The copy I currently have is a cheap paperback....)

I have the page set up to greet me as "Miss (lastname)" which I know some people would think is regressive but it makes me smile a little.... because every spinster teacher and librarian was Miss Somebody, and in some ways my life is not that different from theirs. Or there's Miss Pommel in the Pony-World. (Or wasn't there something like "That's Miss Kitt to you" that Eartha Kitt did - essentially warning people off being too familiar and calling her by her first name or some endearment? At least, I THINK it was Eartha Kitt; might have been another standards/jazz singer of her era.)

And yes, there have been times I've wanted to go "That's MISS (lastname) to you" or, better "That's DR. (lastname) to you" to someone being overly familiar and calling me "honey" or suchlike. There are a few people I accept "honey" or "sweetheart" from but they nearly all have to KNOW me. (a lot of people at church get a total pass on calling me either, and I even grin when some of them do, but we have a history together).

I also don't mind it when one of the people at my favorite barbecue place calls me it, but again - there's that bit of a history there, they know me there.

* Also TMI Friday, but put here as a reminder to me: I have to reset the menopause clock. Not quite 28 days later. I'm hoping the stress of the past few days is what did it. (Both my regular-doctor and my gyn checkups this year revealed nothing abnormal, so am not worrying....well, not REALLY, and not YET.)

*I mentioned blocking off the "mouse entry point"? Well, this afternoon I did it even better. There was an old mail slot (the outer entrance of which got covered over when the house was sided). The "dump" part of the slot opens into my entryway closet and I think it wasn't made quite right when whoever it was had it installed, so there's a way mice can either creep up under the siding or maybe come between the walls and get in through the old slot.

So I HAD stuffed steel wool in there, but eventually they pushed it out. So today, I took the first old license plate from the first car I had (which I INSISTED on keeping when I sold the car back to the dealer, not because I was attached to it but because I've heard of cases of people who bought those cars, committed crimes and the like, and the ORIGINAL owner got in trouble because databases are updated slowly. I had to argue quite a bit with the person but finally they let me). And I took my drill with the screwdriver attachment, and I SCREWED that metal sucker to the wall, right over the gap to the slot.I don't know that it will TOTALLY defeat them but based on the evidence of mouse activity I've seen over the years that seems like one entry point, and closing it off my at least stop SOME mice. (I need to get more of the "jaws" type plastic traps, which are the only ones that seem to work - they are easier to set (they are like tiny bear traps) and I am less likely to snap a finger messing with them. (And like the standard snap traps - they kill instantly so at least they seem humane)

I would rather keep the mice out than kill them, though. I don't think going medieval (putting the little mouse heads on pikes in my garden) would serve as a deterrent, though.