Today I am . . .
- Driving the Japanese exchange student to the airport as he’s traveling to New York for a week.
- Stopping at Ikea afterwards to enjoy a free cup of coffee and pick up a free big blue bag thanks to the Chinook Book that someone left at one of my mother’s guest cottages for me. (I’ll use the bag to stash stuff for my upcoming garage sale.)
- Eating a 50¢ hot dog. Urp . . .
- Forgetting to bring the CFL lightbulbs that I could have dropped off at Ikea. Craaaap . . .
- Popping into the Grocery Outlet for goodies and also using a Chinook Book coupon. ($3-off-$25!)
- Putting together a Craigslist listing for my like-new Goodwill Danskos.
- Planning a dinner based on what I found at The Grocery Outlet. (Nice cheap drumsticks = Chicken Adobo!)
- Taking advantage of the hot, dry and windy weather to hang multiple loads of laundry on my clothesline. (Sun dried sheets . . . mmm . . . <– Homer Simpson sound.)
- Considering doing a weeklong SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge in conjunction with Grocery Outlet’s Independence From Hunger campaign. (Start next week?)
- Putting my feet up to read the new Jane Green book.
- Thinking that I should borrow the neighbor’s power washer and remove the slimy moss scum from my brick patio.
- Listening to my husband watch the U.S. vs. Belgium World Cup game.
- Repeatedly reminding myself that tomorrow is the day to sign up for work shifts.
- Happy to have enough work, but happy that today is not one of those days.
- Getting excited about my family four-day trip down to Ashland, Oregon.
- Oddly energized.
- Happy.
Now your turn. What are you doing today?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh man. Those IKEA bags are the best! We have 3 – 1 is laundry, 1 is recyling, and 1 is all-purpose. They’ve lasted forever.
Watching the game on spanish tv and listening to it on radio. I don’t have cable, so that is the only way we can watch some of these games.
Also hanged out a load of laundry. late today but they will dry in time.
Thinking about cooking dinner, maybe oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. All bought on discount or sale. I did not do a menu plan this week, so I am flying by the seat of my pants.
Today I am…
1. Letting myself sleep in in hopes of helping my body make up for 3 really lousy nights of sleep in a row AND that yesterday was a terrible day on multiple counts that left me shaky and headache-y.
2. After having looked at it a bit last night and again a few times today, taking a framing project I worked on yesterday down from the wall and tweeking it a little bit until I feel happy and satisfied whenever I look at it. A few adjustments made it just right. A year and a half ago, I spent $1 at the Humane Society’s benefit thrift shop and bought a crumbling antique wooden frame. While I would’ve loved to have kept the old frame, as I predicted, it crumbled when I opened it up. BUT, that’s not why I bought the frame in the first place. I had caught a glimpse of a hidden treasure inside of it and hoped that all of it was there and not just the visible 1/4. It was! In 4 pieces, I had stumbled across a cardboard movie poster from a 1923 silent movie featuring Clara Bow. Because someone had been using the 4 quarters of cardboard for backer board for whatever had been framed, all of the colors (red, yellow, and black on white) are still vivid like new! Gorgeous, vintage, flapper fabulosity on my wall! Over the past year and a half, I have gradually (CHEAPLY), patiently gathered all that I needed to reassemble and frame the 1923 poster. It now hangs on my living room wall. Total cost (including a very nice frame and acid free mat board) for the 16″x20″ + metal frame project = $16.
3. Finishing enjoying a hardback book I borrowed from my best friend’s mom. It’s a compendium of the cartoons from 1950-1955 from The New Yorker. I’m returning the book this afternoon.
4. Organizing and writing down my plan of attack for the county fair at the end of August. Each summer, I make many people’s Christmas/Hanukkah gifts well in advance. I enter the items into the crafting competitions at the county fair along with some of my photographs. Then, I (hopefully) have a good sized chunk of ribbons and prize money to help fund a) some of my son’s school supplies and b) the postage to mail off those Christmas/Hanukkah gifts. I have an old county fair catalog from 2011 to go by. The categories haven’t changed much at all since then so it’s good enough for today’s rough planning purposes.
5. Going through my craft supplies stash and gathering up any remnants of supplies that may have been bought at Hobby Lobby in years past (I haven’t shopped there in ages) and bundling those supplies up to donate to the Humane Society’s benefit thrift shop. I want to be able to mark all of my upcoming etsy item listings as “Crafted Free of Any Hobby Lobby Components.”
6. Emailing my mom for her information and to get the word out to relatives who tend to give me gift cards for Christmas/Hanukkah/birthday that Hobby Lobby gift cards would not be welcome. But, please, if any relatives ask for ideas, I would be very grateful for Michael’s and Hancock cards this winter.
7. Taking apart a big, gaudy, heavy, over the top, painted in gold gilt framed mirror that got handed down to me years ago. The thing is not at all my style and is, frankly, atrocious (very Rococo – the OPPOSITE of my style), but it serves its purpose and hung over my dresser until last month’s storm damage. I’m slowly getting my apartment put back together after the storm damage and redoing things with an eye toward keeping my spirits up for the remainder of my time trapped in this hellhole town. I’m disassembling the mirror and painting the frame a lovely, bright, bluish purple (with a small jar of Lowe’s supercheap error paint I got from the mistint cart a long time ago for $1). At least by changing the color to something more fun and suitable to my tastes, I can take the mirror into a more fun sort of over-the-top visual.
8. Washing all bedding and blankets.
9. Starting reading a HILARIOUS paperback cozy mystery that I got for free w/trade in credit at the used book store last week. It is laugh out loud funny! Great destresser.
10. Folding and putting away 2 loads of clothes.
11. Working on completing a refinishing project that’s due to a client later this week.
12. Being very grateful that my best friend cut my looooong, thiiiiiick hair short for me last week! Relief!
13. Emailing to wish all my beloved Canadian friends Happy Canada Day!
Come on, now — let us know the title of that hilarious cozy mystery!
Digging Up Otis by T. Dawn Richard
Pepsibookcat, can I just say I love you for item #5? I have only set foot in a Hobby Lobby once in my life and I assure you, it will never happen again. Good luck to you with your future HL Free crafting.
Would love to see a photo of your framed movie poster! It sounds awesome!
AHHHH. Thanks for reminding me about sign-up!
I have reminders on my computer.
Enjoying a nice, hot Canada day
Completing projects outdoors
Walking my dogs in our local park
Helping my husband build PVC jumps for agility practice for the dogs
Thinking it feels like summer!
Have you seen the hilarious gif of the agility course rabbit outsmarting the humans?
Hot and humid weather arrived in the mid-Atlantic region this week. I am grateful I already canvased the neighborhood for donations to help fund the 4th of July parade and fireworks in my suburb. Since it was my first year I found it nerve-wracking but I met some nice people while ringing doorbells.
It was very hot at 7:15 when I went for a short walk this morning. I may drive to the mall to take a longer walk. I don’t have to shop while I am there.
My husband and I happened to hit our local movie theater for their $5 Tuesday special. Since we can survive for 2-1/2 hours without eating or drinking it was a relatively cheap date.
I am happy that my fig tree has several figs on it. It was just bare branches when it was planted two months ago.
It’s time to start the laundry so I can hang it outside.
Today I am….
1) Going to a contact lens follow-up appointment. I’ll be buying my contacts online with a coupon code instead of from my eye doctor.
2) Doing a load of laundry. My son and husband played outside yesterday and got really, really muddy and gross, so I want to run their stuff through all together. I’ll also need to do a load of cloth diapers.
3) Putting together Baby #2’s bassinette. They’re due on Saturday and their bed still isn’t put together… whoops.
4) Finishing setting up my nursing corner in our room for Baby #2. I want to have a table with snacks, a water bottle, and a few other little things that I wish I would have had while nursing my son at night. I do realize the snacks are going to end up in my toddler’s tummy every morning, but we’ll try it at first and see if I get any of them.
5) Taking a few bags of stuff to the thrift store. We’re moving in the middle of September (with a two year old and a two month old), and I’ve been getting rid of stuff at an alarming rate.
Today I am…
…regorganizing all the “stuff” stored in our dining area. We bought new (to us) dining room table and chairs with a hutch. The new items are beautiful (and were a bear to move!) but have somewhat less storage than the huge armior we were using temporarily (for 3 years).
… using the opportunity to re-imagine both the living and dining areas (of the same large room) and how the space can be best used.
… also using the opportunity to declutter, get rid of items we don’t need, and improve the way we use the storage space in the linen closet.
… trying not to think about how the next step, really, would be to organize and declutter the basement. Oy.
… planning to enjoy Independence Day and local fireworks. One of my favorite (and free) activities.
I’m not sure if I’m the only one but, I can’t read your blog on my iphone at all and haven’t been able to for several weeks now. At the bottom 1/3 of the screen there’s a big orange Home Depot popup and every time I try to scroll down to read more or comments I hit the X button on the pop up by mistake and then I have to push the back button to get back to your blog and its very frustrating. I end up hauling my backside upstairs to the bonus room to read on the kid’s computer which I guess is good because I at least get some exercise!!
Hi Katy,
Regarding your SNAP Challenge, have you checked out the free “Good and Cheap” cookbook? It made me think of you and your challenge when I saw it 🙂
http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/free-cookbook-eat-well-4-dollars-day.html
IG: EatHealthyLiveLaughLoveRepeat