Omg, I did that thing again where I forgot that I had a blog for, like, a month and change. True story: life here has been all over the map.

For starters, I’m still looking for a job – either a second job or a job with more hours – while working part time at a place that’s only going to be around until the end of the year,* and it’s a bit exhausting.** I’m doing some freelance page layout, and still working on selling my art, which totally is helping make the ends come together, but I would really like a bit more security. That aside, household finances are still afloat, even if there’s been some belt-tightening and credit card using involved. Also, I’ve been dealing with an AS flare-up for the last few weeks, which is also exhausting, but finally starting to ease, thank goodness.***

On the lighter side of things, my head has been better than it has been in months. It turns out that not constantly worrying about people being crappy to me at work is pretty osm. Who knew, right? While not being stressed out about that, I’ve managed to get some pretty cool stuff in progress –

Like the  zillion little seedlings in my sun room! The garden is ready to go, and Dearest Will and Our Man Cub were kind enough to rake out the yards and ready them up over the weekend. And on Saturday I went with  Man Cub to the DPW and we filled the cat litter buckets (we’d saved up since autumn) with compost – last year the tomatoes didn’t really get enough sun, and so didn’t ripen well; this year we’re planting them in buckets so we can move them around and find the best spot for them. We thought we would plant this weekend, but it’s still sorta chilly here and there’s a chance of flurries predicted for Tuesday (whut). So we have cucumbers, peas, peppers, squash, melon, and greens in the window, all ready to go into the ground this coming weekend.† And beets! And carrots!

Also, I’ve been doing some art and writing submissions, which is good for the soul. And, as Will’s niece is expecting soon, working on a baby blanket. This has been super fun, as I’ve been learning a new stitch, called Herringbone, which, with the addition of a little self-striping yarn, is rather impressive looking. I learned the stitch off YouTube from this rad lady, CraftDKnits, who has such osm instructional vids that I may even be brave enough to try cables at some point. Usually a crocheter, I was super excited to see this come together.

While doing that knitty-knitty, I’ve totally indulged in a bit of teevee. Have you seen this show on History,  Vikings? Omg, I am a little bit into it. And by, “a little bit into it,” you can assume that vikings and ancient Norse business  are what I want to know all about right now. I will admit that I found CarftDKnits’ YouTube channel after straying from searching the internets for instructionals on needlebinding (that were in english) – I watched all the currently available Vikings episodes, then watched the behind-the-scenes clips, and one of the costuming clips showed a sleeve that had been made with needlebinding, and it was all the heck over after that. So, um, I will be learning to needlebind. Just sayin’. Probably after this baby blanket it finished.

Also, I signed up for a 21-day mantra meditation thing that Deva Premal and Miten are doing (free, even!), and I’m a little stoked. The lovely Suzi Banks Baum  gave me the heads-up about it, and the timing could not be better. Dearest Will & I have been looking for good meditation stuffs for ages now (THINGS THAT DO NOT INVOLVE VISUALIZING A BEACH)†† – omg, yes, please.

And so we go. We lost a pet rat in the night,††† and so this morning, after some big energy spent on burial and cage cleaning, Man Cub is home with me and we are having some slow time together. My biggest plans today are to work on some of my freelance stuff, and to make cookies with Man Cub (if they turn out anywhere near as good as when a friend brought them over from her kitchen, I will totally post that business for you).

***

*I’m working at a museum that’s closing its doors in December. And while I love working there, and the people are super nice (SUPER nice – my gawd, it’s a delicious change of pace to not have a mini anxiety attack every time I drive to work), it’s not a whole lot of hours, and it pays a little less than I was making at the last job.
**Holy crap, craigslist, wtf? I mean, really, it’s spam-o-scam-o-rama ever since we hooked up. Job hunting on your site gives a whole new meaning to the term Missed Connections.
***Turns out I was in the process of getting sick, so everything was all swollen up. Also, new job has me on my feet a little more than I’ve been accustomed to, which is to say, my hips have been protesting.
†This will be interesting. Seems that when when Man Cub & I planted the seedlings in Dixie Cups, we totally forgot about the part where you label the cups with what you planted. So, um, I’m doing some ferocious googling of images to figure out which seedlings are which. There may be some mix-n-match in the garden this year >.>
††B[ea]ch, please. Omg, after spending some formative years in FL, there is absolutely nothing relaxing about imagining myself on a beach.
†††Oh, Fanti – oh oh oh, Fancy Fanti. Poor delicate boy – he was on allergy medicine, had a bottom tooth that had to be trimmed every month lest it grow up and sideways into his cheek, and caught colds every time one of his humans did. Soft tummy and sweet natured – he’ll be missed sorely. Why, oh, why do they have to get sick on Saturday afternoon, when the vet is closed until Monday? It was so freaking quick, too – he looked iffy yesterday, and I planned to take him to the vet today, but he didn’t make it through the night =( I’m keeping a super close eye on Mingo, who seems healthy, if a little weirded out by the situation.