random thoughts – Day 2,420 (Sunday 11/1) – torah and tarot

There were two things on the calendar for today. The first was dance practice at dance bestie’s house in preparation for an event in November. The other was attending a lecture with dance bestie at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. The double event plan meant a modification in the usual sweatpants and no makeup practice attire. Camel colored pants and a light purple cashmere sweater were chosen. Hair was styled. Makeup was applied.

A debate took place over which of two scarves to wear with the ensemble. One had a purple and camel paisley pattern. The other was various shades of purple with a watercolor effect. As the clock ticked closer to departure time I finally gave up, set the paisley scarf around my neck and left. In the car, I checked my purse for a lip balm for my dry lips. These are usually planted in every purse, but today’s purse was empty. I went back into the house for one so it wouldn’t be a bother all day.

We ran through our dance several times, talking through the parts I kept messing up. For two weeks, I have suddenly been on the wrong foot in dances in ballet class, belly dance class, and duet practice. Errrrr.

The Magician tarot card through time.

The Yiddish Book Center is beautiful and holds a performance center, a theater, library collections, multiple exhibit galleries, and a small gift shop. The lecture was interesting. Stav Appel, author and educator, is a lifelong student of Torah and when he saw a reproduction of a Renaissance-era deck of playing cards (the Tarot de Marseille) he noticed numerous biblical references in the tarot artwork.  

This led to his further study of earlier decks containing even more recognizable biblical content. There are too many encoded images of Bible stories, Hebrew letters, Judaic ritual objects, and Jewish holy days to be a coincidence. 

The theater was packed and the lecture was fascinating. There was a companion exhibit in one of the galleries. A tarot reader provided readings to those of us lucky enough to have signed up in advance. Mine was a message that positive energy is coming in, good things are underway, and I should keep pursuing the things that bring joy and continue shedding the not joyful things. Yes, please.

random thoughts – Day 2,419 (Saturday 10/31) – inside day

Enjoying the outside from inside.

It’s still pretty out with some colorful leaves clinging to branches and I enjoy looking at them from in the house, especially when the morning temperature is in the 30s. In past years, I was perpetually ready for weekend hiking, but lately, it’s all about indoor pursuits for me. I hope it’s just a cycle and I will want to go outside and play again, but for now I am content with a view of it. My body feels like it’s fighting a desire for hibernation and bedtime is currently my favorite time of the day and I will enjoy the extra hour of sleep tonight.

As a reward for getting up, breakfast was a bagel with a fried egg, cheese, and the last of the homemade strawberry jam. So delicious.

Two in process, one done.

The day was spent indoors with a lot of reading. There was news, email, social media, and a book. Time was spent thinking about stained glass and trying to make a piece using only scraps but there weren’t enough scraps in the right sizes or shapes and it was abandoned. 

New pieces were cut for another crescent moon and a heart. The heart has an issue with pieces that aren’t fitting correctly and two that need edge grinding.  The moon was foiled and soldered and I was glad for the victory in a mostly unproductive day.

random thoughts – Day 2,418 (Friday 10/30) – costume party

There is nothing quite like the thrill of waiting until the morning of a costume party you've known about for a month to decide on a costume. With dozens of costumes gathered over the years from various themed parties, dance performances, and general acquisitions, ideas floated in my head but nothing stuck.

Contestants in one of
the costume contests.

Yesterday, a couple costume tubs and the closets were reviewed. Ariel the Mermaid, a 1920s flapper, Playboy bunny, a 60’s go-go girl, and a genie were dismissed from consideration. The potential choices were narrowed down to Red Riding Hood, pirate, fortune teller, and Prince. This morning, I decided on pirate and laid the clothing out on the bed. Then. During the gathering of pirate components, I found my spurs and considered cowboy, and realized half of the wig collection is missing. The pink, green, and black bob styles, the blond Marilyn Monroe wig, and the long glow in the dark white wig are all unaccounted for and will plague me until they are located.

After pizza lunch at Mom’s, I changed my mind to Red Riding Hood, and put the hooded cape in the dryer to take out the wrinkles. As I pondered the full ensemble, I realized I divested the basket collection in a move and decided to go to Dollar Tree to look for one. A trick or treat tub was found that seemed suitable and when I turned around I saw a lone pirate sword on a display which seemed like a sign and just like that, I was back on pirate, but still not fully invested.

Arrrrghhh.

The poufy pirate shirt worn in the past felt a bit snug and was swapped out for a stripey shirt. After dressing in black blousy pants, boots, the stripey shirt, a striped scarf, and a coin belt I was ready to leave. That’s when I realized I needed to use the toilet and had to undo half of it. The scarf snagged on the coin belt and once liberated, was abandoned.

At the costume party, our table included Doris (from Shrek,) Bo Peep, a chauffeur, a poop emoji, LL Cool J, a steampunk lady, a nun with a goatee, a pirate, two hippies, Captain Cleghorn, and a few more. There were costume contests and a game that involved racing with a ball on a spoon. It was fun, but I was tired and headed home by 10:00 even through the party was on for another couple hours. I guess I’m just not a party animal anymore, unless it starts at 2:00 in the afternoon and is done by nightfall.

random thoughts – Day 2,417 (Thursday 10/29) – in action

Finally painting the shed.

The morning slipped into the all too usual time-suck where I get up at 6:45 and suddenly it’s 9:00. Then I blinked and it was 10:00 and I still hadn’t taken a shower but I had finished a book and played games on my phone. That’s when I snapped into action.

Clear textured glass was chosen and pieces cut for the small panel. The first piece cut like a dream, the second piece was great but less dreamy. After that, the next few pieces didn’t cut as cleanly and are going to need grinding to smooth off the burrs and I took the hint and set it aside for a while.

At 2:00, I realized it was beautiful outside and mowed the yard. All the siding project mess was hauled away yesterday and I had full access to my yard and shed again. The mowing also chopped up most of the leaves so it was a two-for-one deal.

At 4:00, while messing around doing not much, I decided to paint the front of the shed with the paint left from some things on the house that needed paint during the siding project. It’s possible the leftover siding will go on the side and back walls, but it would be a pain in the arse with the doors.

The foam brushes and my favorite four-inch foam roller were fetched and I got busy. The first roll on the walls didn’t reach the gap in the vertical boards. That led to a snap decision to keep the thin lines white for a pinstripe effect. I hated the barn doors look, but pinstripes are fun.

Pinstripe shed front.

There were mistakes made. I should have scraped the black paint off the trim on and around the door. The hinges should have been removed but I don’t have a Robertson screwdriver for the stupid screws and I didn’t think to tape over the hinges because I tend to think I’m a neater painter than I actually am.  I didn’t paint inside the door frame yet because it was getting late and I wanted to be able to close the shed without them being painted shut. A smaller brush would have gotten some corners I missed around the stupid X shapes on the doors that I didn’t notice until after everything was cleaned up. I might take the X pieces off, but I want to check with a carpenter to see if they are there for support and stability first.

The shed isn't perfect but it’s good enough for now. I really hated the white shed with black trim and a barn door look, so that is remedied and I’m content with it. When the switch flips to the on position and I finally snap into action I’m pretty productive.

random thoughts – Day 2,416 (Wednesday 10/28) – baby naughty

Baby Naughty,
ready for mayhem.

My eldest niece arrived home yesterday from Vegas for a visit and today Mom and I went to Sis’s house. Niece #1 is working remotely during her visit and we gathered during her lunch break. It is always fun at Sis’s house because Sis, her husband, and her daughters have jobs working with the public and go on adventures that means they have lots of funny and outrageous true stories. 

Stuff like managers "helping" and changing all the descriptions on a list of loans in process, accidentally calling a manager the dorky nickname given to a sister's boyfriend,  dumb jokes customers tell at a banking counter, car rental breakdown on a honeymoon, a history of rainstorms on camping trips, and so on. I kind of miss having my own current stories about funny/ loud/ annoying colleagues and misadventures and definitely enjoy hearing about theirs. And I need to improve my adventure game. 

In addition to the amusing true tales, my sister usually has fun seasonal decor in the house. When the girls were young, there were decorations for holidays and seasons major and minor, including a year-round tree with décor that rotated to include Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween, and football season.

Plotting murder?

This year’s Halloween décor features “Baby Naughty.” Baby Naughty is a creepy baby doll that may have escaped from a horror movie and found its way to my sister’s house by way of Mummu and someone who was giving away kids toys. When weird things would happen at the house, like an odd noise, a missing item, a new crayon drawing on a wall, Baby Naughty was blamed. During football season, Baby Naughty often sported a creepy football head and was parked in a chair.

Baby Naughty is creepy enough that the family is afraid to dispose of it. The fear is it would return and unleash a true horror story. This season, Baby Naughty is in rare form. With a miniature meat cleaver at hand, Baby Naughty is perched on the top level of a six-foot tall pantry shelf, watching us eat lunch, ready to cause mayhem. Like plotting our murders by baby meat cleaver.  Oh, Baby Naughty.

random thoughts – Day 2,415 (Tuesday 10/27) – prepping and doing

Prepping to solder.

There are certain morning routines that keep the house running. One is the brewing and consumption of coffee. The other is feeding treats to Kiki. She is accustomed to morning treats and greets me each morning with meowing. Non-stop meowing. I get some treats in my right hand and feed them one at a time to Kiki with my left hand, and we move on. Usually, she lays in the sun for a while and then disappears for hours (or all day).

This morning, I had grabbed a larger handful of treats than usual. After doling out treats, I set the remainder on the coaster on the ottoman. Then, I went to the kitchen to top off my coffee. From the kitchen, I spotted little Miss Ninja Kitty on the ottoman, silently dining on the remaining treats. I stood quietly so I didn’t startle her and watched from the kitchen. When she was done eating her treats one by one, she sniffed the items on the ottoman – coaster, TV remote, book, pen – then slinked off the ottoman and went to the window, without making a sound. It’s the first time I’ve seen her on the ottoman.

Prepped for delivery.

The schedule for the day included the delivery of the new refrigerator to replace the barely one year old refrigerator that decided to go on strike for the second time in four months. Delivery instructions included ensuring a clear path from the door to the refrigerator location. That required moving the dining chairs and nudging the table back a foot or two to open access through the kitchen doorway. It's fine for everyday life, but two men navigating a refrigerator are a different story. The boxes of glass and bevels were shoved back under the table and in front of the buffet. The rug was rolled back to the table to remove a tripping obstacle on the floor.

After the furniture workout, I relaxed by soldering a stained glass piece that had a new circle cut yesterday and was foiled last night. The ottoman was cleared and the corkboard, glass piece, soldering iron, sponge, roll of 60/40 solder and flux were installed. The soldering was completed. 

When the text arrived that the driver would arrive in 20 or 30 minute, it was time to empty the fridge and freezer. The drill was still fresh in mind from June. The foam Omaha Steaks cooler and the Rubbermaid tub it lives in were taken from the top shelf in the craft room. Several times I have considered disposing of the foam cooler. Twice now, I have been very glad to still have it. The couch was nudged several inches closer to the TV to widen the path from the door. 

The not so frigid air freezer contents were stuffed into the cooler and tub, plus an insulated tote bag and lunch bag. It went quickly. It took the delivery guys eleven minutes to remove the old refrigerator and set the new one in place. Then, the lead guy took the time to clean off the sticky marks with a citrus spray.

It took me longer to repack the freezer than it did to empty it. I had bought a wire shelf at Goodwill last week because it seemed like it would be handy, but when I got it home I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. With the freezer emptied, the new shelf was tried and it was better than the puny shelf that held the ice cube trays before. The plastic bins are re-organized with designated spots for fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread, and meat substitute. It will be interesting to see how long that system lasts.  

The refrigerator box was easy to deal with. It’s mostly condiments, eggs, butter, produce, and cheese. Most of those already have a solid system thanks to the door trays, produce, and deli drawers. I almost wish I had gotten some ice cream to really test the freezer.

Once the fridge was set up again, I moved the rug and table back to their regular spots. Then I went to dance in Fitchburg. It was a day full of movement and exercise, prepping and doing. 

random thoughts – Day 2,414 (Monday 10/26) – plans

Kiki gargoyle.

The temperature continued with the autumnal mood swings starting in the 30s in the morning and hitting nearly 70 in the afternoon. Being forewarned and dressing in layers are key to surviving. Put them on in the morning and peel them off as needed throughout the day. As I drank coffee, ate toast, and consulted the weather forecast, Kiki worked on her gargoyle impersonation on the chair across the room. She's so cute.

On the way out of town I stopped at a gas station that was top of the list in the Waze listing sorted from lowest price. It turned out it was a full serve station and for the first time in decades, I didn’t have to pump my own gas. I asked the gas pumping guy about the cost of the air machine ($1.00) and he pumped the air for me and the next thing I knew I was scheduling rear brake work while my tires were being topped off. It was the most productive gas stop in my history of driving.

Before going to glass class, I had to visit the appliance store. The solution from the service department for my repeat offender defective refrigerator was to credit my original purchase amount towards another fridge. The manager who called this morning said they had one the same size as mine and I said I’d be there today. We got it all settled and a delivery window is set for Tuesday. I love a customer service team with a plan. 

Glass class was the first of the next three-week session and it was crowded. In the last session there were three of us, and today there were seven because several past students returned. It was very loud for the first 30 minutes as they all loudly caught up with each other’s lives. I don’t know any of them and it wasn’t my place to butt in, so I headed to the sanctuary of the grinder and let that noise take over my brain. Very therapeutic.

Packed for transport.

Every time I took a step at the worktable, my foot hit the leg of the stool of someone directly behind me and I kept apologizing.  Two of us were jockeying for position at the light table. Three of us were tripping over each other to get to the grinders. The chaos must have energized me, because I got everything done that I had planned. I had a refresher on cutting circles with the instructor, got the colored glass pieces cut and ground for a panel and started the foiling. The freshly cut, ground, and partially foiled pieces were taped to the pattern for transport home.

My goals for this session are perfecting cutting circles, learning how to add patina to the solder lines, and learning how to reinforce pieces with wire. It’s good to have a plan.