fire and water and photos (oh my)

I. MADE. FIRE! *caveman-esque roar*

So two weird fears I've had about this place involve the fireplace and the hall bath. I've never made a fire before that didn't involve a gas fireplace, and have had only limited experience with those. But while on the phone with my good, good friend Richard last night, he coaxed me through the process. And yes, I remembered to open the flue before lighting the log. I used this Java Log that was recommended by one of my neighbors, and Hobbes and I sat there and just stared at it, with me occasionally shrieking when the log broke down and flames surged.

The hall bath. I hadn't turned on the water in the tub/shower since I moved in here. And the longer I went, the more I had this irrational fear that something would go wrong if I did. I don't know what I thought would happen. Maybe the water wouldn't turn on. Maybe blood would pour out. I don't know. But Richard also marched me in there and had me turn it on. It was just water. I think part of this fear stemmed from the annoyingly weak water pressure in the master bath. We hates it.

And I setup the Canon Pixma last night. Dear god. It was intimidating, and I've been building my own computers for 12 years now. And this was just a freaking printer. Well, printer, scanner, fax, photo pict-bridge. It's fucking enormous, but I love it. They wisely included a sample pack of 4x6 photo paper, which I've already used up and need to immediately go out and buy more of, and it's amazing. The print quality is really impressive. I immediately printed out a picture of Hobbsie to stick in the frame Jeff and I bought at Target ages ago.

Which was nice, because it led me to start hanging up other pictures and putting away linens (which, I have no idea how those things became connected). I also filed things that needed to be filed, found all my tax stuff so I can do that, and in general just started to put stuff where belongs. Things are vastly improved, but I must keep charging on. I have a haircut at 5, and I'd like to:

- Finish everything in the office (disc pile, book pile, picture pile, old printer (giving to Stace)
- Finish the last things in the bedroom (make bed, sewing machine table top, sewing machine setup, slipcover fix)
- Remove everything from the dining room and put in proper place (goodwill stuff, tv, crafts stuff)

And then I'd like to cook. I have ingredients for World's Best Meatloaf and also the chicken curry. I think I just want to make a bunch of food that I can eat during the week. I just need to run to the store for the stupid saltines I forgot to buy the other night.

leetle emily

I think Sarah's little sister, Emily, and I have the perfect symbiotic relationship. I need someone to spoil and nurture. She, being away from home for her first year of college, needs someone to spoil and nurture her.

It works very well. Also, she's freaking adorable. She is currently watching tv, surrounded by snacks while I finish some work in my office (and um, just LJing for a minute really). And then I'm going to make quantities of food and send her home with tupperware'd packages of love.

It's fantastic to have her in this city!

In less happy news, a wire was crossed and the haircut appt I was ecstatically looking forward to was apparently at 4, and not at 5 as I remembered. So they called at 4:15 and we're going to have to reschedule, which I have no idea when, because Amy will be here next weekend and I want to spend my time enjoying that, because it's really horrifically rare that I get to see her. I know she wouldn't mind if I took an hour to do that, but I don't want to have to schedule an appt and have it interrupt the fun. So I'm going to have to figure that out. Grrr. I really hate my hair right now, but this woman is worth waiting for.

another self-congratulatory post

OMG. I did it. I got everything done. And it's only 6PM.

I CAN GO TO THE BALL AFTERALL, STEPMOTHER!

(*ahem*)

But I can't believe it. I mean, there's still tons of stuff to do, but I reached a milestone today. Everything in the office is put away. Everything in the bedroom is put away. I put new sheets on the bed and organized the linen closet. All the crap that was in the dining room has been put away. I setup all the stuff I've gotten recently (printer, shredder, sewing machine). A load of laundry is churning away, and the next load (only two loads to deal with total) is set to go. I have a shitload of stuff to haul to Goodwill that is lurking in my foyer, but godDAMN I got shit done. I feel like a real human lives here now. I even have my French homework done so I'm all set for class tomorrow, since Jeanne and I are having an Anti-Valentine's Day celebration (pedicure and Indian food).

I may still try to hang the Rothko in the living room. We'll see. But the rest of the art that's staying has been hung up, as well as some calendars.

I have a lot of projects for the future, but they've been chunked into manageable projects. For the upcoming months:

- painting the rest of the motherfucking trim/doors/door frames/closets
- going through box boxes for stuff to donate
- building some shelves for the office closets to hold all the stuff I need it to hold.
- painting the kitchen cabinets and walls and installing hardware
- new blinds for bedroom, dining room, and kitchen
- going through boxes of old notes and term papers, vhs tapes, miscellania

And my dream to have new closet doors, doors, pergo in ktichen/dining room, and crown moulding isn't dead, but I realize it may be a year before those projects see the light of day.

Now I'm going to go cook for Emily and myself and for a good part of next week. While these items don't go together, I think they'll be easy to take as lunch. I'm going to make this recipe my SIL passed on, West African Peanut Chicken Curry with basmati rice. And also the Best Recipe's spectacular meatloaf and some mashed potatoes.

This all means I can focus on work this week and still feel on top of things when Amy comes on Thursday night!

yay, food!

This is the recipe my SIL passed on. Easy and fucking delicious. Highly recommend.

( West African Peanut Chicken Curry )