Back to normal

Sunday, 1:52 pm

By Kate

Nov

25

2007

The lad is delivered to his Dad’s house, I listened to Christmas music all the way home, and I am in a good mood. This was a perfect weekend. Nothing will get in the way of that. You hear me, house? Nothing!

That’s probably called tempting fate. May no more hoses, pipes, or anything else burst. I think I shall call a plumber tomorrow. I got to thinking that water hose attachments are probably not something I should experiment with. Perhaps I should leave it to someone who knows what he’s doing. And I have decided that I am nowhere close to being able to part with my washing machine. Hand washes are fine between times, but I need my washing machine. Or want it, I guess. Anyway…

On my drive home, I observed that our trees haven’t dropped their leaves yet. They’ve turned colors and dried up, but are still stubbornly clinging to the branches. It looks like vast swatches of huge dried bouquets covering the hillsides and lining the roads. I don’t know why the trees have clung to their leaves, but it’s a very strange sight. If they haven’t let go by the time the first snow storm arrives, we might be in for some trouble. Heavy snow on leaf laden trees? Bad combination.

Coming back in the house, I sort of sighed. I’ll be spending some time cleaning again. Didn’t I just do that a couple of days ago? Holy cow, it looks like a bomb went off downstairs. How can one lad turn the place upside down in less than 24 hours? Such is life in a tiny house. I don’t mind. It was worth it. I’m humming and smiling with a pretty warm glow and I’m reluctant to let that go, while, at the same time, rather looking forward to getting back to the normal daily routine and trying to live just a tad lighter than I have in the past couple of days.

Since I have obviously become compulsive about reading meters, I suppose I should just bite the bullet and do up a Week 26 of the 90 Percent Project and call it a wretched, horrible, very bad week. Life happens. It’s very gratifying to have the energy available when needed in higher than usual amounts. I certainly don’t enjoy using that much and I don’t intend to make it a habit. But, overall, it will balance out.

The lad was quite gracious about turning stuff off and being careful this weekend. He told me that last summer definitely rubbed off on him because he finds himself going around the frat house turning off televisions and lights when no one is using them.

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My laptop: I love this thing. And, despite what I’ve heard about Windows Vista, I really like it. As far as I can tell, there isn’t that much difference between it and XP, other than cosmetic improvements and a few nifty new gizmos. Nothing has crashed on me yet, so it appears to be stable.

As for the scratch and dent...beats the heck out of me where they are. I’ve pored over every square nanometer of it and I can’t see any scratches or dents. And the case’s jet black exterior is very pleasing. I am delighted with my refurbished laptop. Works great, looks really pretty....

Most of all, though, I really love the way it makes my electric meter crawl. Of course!

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Another thing that made my day....

When I drove back in the driveway, my neighbor was out decorating her side of the house for Christmas. There were no icicle lights dangling from the eaves! Instead she opted for pretty wreaths and non-electric garlands and dangly things. I am so happy! I asked her where her lights were. She said she thought we should try something a little more traditional this year. Was that okay with me? Oh bless her!