And I'm home

Some scattered thoughts:

* I was somewhat cheered to see that my mom was able to stand up more-or-less straight (as much as she ever does, stupid osteoporosis has given her a bit of a stoop to her shoulders) before I left. And she's back to doing the stuff she normally does so I guess it was okay I didn't try to arrange for a few days' leave-of-absence at the start of the term.

* That said - the weather is supposed to turn much colder here and we might get snow tomorrow (womp womp). I WAS planning on going to get the soil for the second run of the experiment then but maybe now I won't - it's supposed to be in the 20s and digging is kind of miserable in that kind of weather. (It is supposed to warm up, I guess - though I will be somewhat ticked if I rushed back here and wind up being stuck at home by snow days).

* Everything at home was okay, with one minor exception - I left some traps set to try to avoid a mouse invasion, and, well, one got caught. Apparently fairly early in the break, to judge from the state of the remains. I cleaned it up and sprayed Lysol over there but am unsure of what else to do - it's on the wood floor so I think bleach would be a bad idea. Not sure what would be antibacterial (and, uh, anti-smell) but won't damage the floor. Other than that, apparently no signs of mouse trouble. The hot water heater is still heating (I used the hottest water I could stand to wash my hands afterward, even though I didn't actually touch anything), the fridge and freezer are fine.

* I do have to (sigh) put away the Christmas stuff. (Is today Epiphany, or is tomorrow? If it's tomorrow, I might just put it off and get my mail and put my clothes away instead). That said, I'm glad of my decision to mostly clean up the house before I left because it's nicer to return to swept floors and scrubbed kitchen and things mostly put away.

(And yes: Epiphany is tomorrow. So I am 100% justified in waiting until then to put stuff away. Huh. I didn't see any king cakes at the store and they used to do them for Epiphany - I guess most people associate them with Mardi Gras but I KNOW they were also traditionally done for Epiphany.)

* The more I think about it, the more I like that idea I tossed out randomly in an earlier post - that my resolution for this year is going to be to buy far, far, far less yarn and fabric and instead work on the accumulated stuff I have. Partly for money savings but also for clutter reduction.

I also have a half-baked plan to reorganize, deep-clean, and maybe paint (some pretty color like pale turquoise or lavender) my sewing room this summer. After all, I'm not going to be teaching, and I will have time in between doing research and prepping my new class (Environmental Policy and Law; I am taking it over from someone who is retiring) for the fall.

I also MAY consider giving away the ten-years or so run of Vogue Knits I have dating back to 1999. Not sure if anyone would want them - if I were sending them off I'd have to have someone refund me postage because they wouldn't be cheap to mail out - but that would clear some shelf space and I don't use them the way I use back numbers of Interweave Knits. I also might box up the long run of "Miniature Quilts" (which I think is no longer published) and store it; I am now more into making bed-sized quilts and again that would free up shelf space.

* I did make a few things over break. Didn't even start the second sleeve for Hagrid because I was too busy helping out and I also got involved with a crochet project that turned out to be much more epic than I originally thought it would be from a cursory glance at the pattern. But maybe that sleeve can be a winter project for me.

* I got my hair cut. Well, sort of. The stylist and I couldn't decide on what to do with the bangs so I had wispier bangs and that long lock off to the side, so I just had her leave it all longish, and so I still have what I think of as the "Reformed Starlight Glimmer" look. Actually, it's an okay look for me and it IS more fitting a woman within a stone's throw of 50 than bangs probably are.

And if I'm feeling silly, I can set it in a loop while it's wet so I have a little kiss curl (or love lock, if you prefer) close to my temple.

The other benefit of it is that the way I comb it now, hair that was on the underside (and therefore, less stressed, I guess) is now on top and it mostly covers the greys I do have. 

* One of the sillier bits of recent news was the changing of the Hollywood sign to read "Hollyweed" (which apparently wasn't even all that original). I admit my reaction was: "that's so funny I forgot to laugh" said with the most sarcasm possible. (Confession: I find the extreme "weed culture," where pot has to constantly be celebrated and that palmate leaf slapped onto everything, kind of puerile and annoying. I don't care if you smoke it - far away from me - but I also would like for the rest of us to be able to avoid the whole stoner thing. And yes, I say this as someone who almost made a "Dave's not here" joke to a natural-foods store employee, but hesitated because I figured he was too young to get it).

Then again: it didn't permanently damage the sign and was easily enough undone. It's not like they blew up statues of the Buddha or something.