Things

Just an unconnected series of random things I have on my mind.

I think I broke my toe. I stubbed it last night in the garage and it didn't hurt much at the time (just as much as any other stubbed toe, which is a lot but I didn't think much of it) but later in the evening it really started to hurt. Today it's swollen and purple and painful. I know there isn't a lot you can do for a broken toe (I've broken toes before, apparently I need to watch where I'm walking better) so I'll just have to live with it. But it hurts and I just wanted to whine a bit. I guess I should just be glad it wasn't my big toe.

I need to find a brisket today if I'm going to corn my own beef for St. Patrick's Day. I found the recipe in Bon Apetit last year and it sounded really good but I was out of town so I couldn't do it. But I found it again this year and I want to try it. But it needs to brine for 8 days so I have to find one today.

I love my iPod touch. Love it. It makes me so happy. The new home theater system we got for the living room even has a dock for it so I can listen to it out there or in my room on my iHome radio or with my cool Skull Candy earphones. But besides the music (which is totally cool, I have found songs on iTunes that I haven't had since, gulp, cassette tapes) I really love the App Store. We were assembling my mom's bookcase and needed a level. We couldn't find one so two minutes and one free app later my iPod was a level. I play more games on it now than my DS. And the coolest app I found? One that turns my iPod into a Kindle. Yup. I can read a gazillion books on it. Now it doesn't have all the features of the Kindle but it does have the one feature I would use the most, the ability to read books on it. And the books are delivered to my iPod in less than a minute. And before you go thinking that I'm going to abandon my local library and spend way too much money on books, I'm not. First off, I can't afford too many books, which is why I started going to the library in the first place. But Amazon has lots of FREE Kindle titles. Lots are public domain works which are older titles and classics but they also have new books they release for free for a short period of time. So I can download those and have them on my iPod to carry with me to the doctor's office or on set to read. So cool, huh?

I'm really tired of the news about the economy. Does anyone else think that the constant negative news actually fuels the fear, panic and depression that helps create more bad economic news? This won't be our first depression and it won't be our last unfortunately. But come on, have some good news, please. Where are the water skiing squirrel stories when you need them? (Bonus points if you can tell me what movie that is a reference to.)

Redecorating is hard work. We have been building new furniture, hauling out the old stuff. It's tiring. And each new thing accomplished seems to add another to the list. With the bookcase that should arrive this week we should be done with the 'media' wall. (We already built an Ikea sideboard and massive bookcase and a small corner desk.) Except that now my mom wants to order a new desk chair to match. Then we still have to get the new couch, paint the walls, refinish the furniture we are keeping, get new foam and make new pillows and slipcovers for the furniture we are keeping and look for new accessories. (We also need to find a throw rug but that is on hold indefinitely as we don't want to put out anything that The Graminator might trip over.) It's going to be BEAUTIFUL when we are done (it's a seaside cottage theme, very cool and serene, and will look great in my mom's little house) but it's a lot of work. I have to go to Lowe's and get a sample can of paint and paint a poster board that we can move around and make sure we like the paint color in all the various locations it will go. (The house is so tiny that you have to paint the living room, kitchen and hallway all the same color or it will look too chopped up.) The color we think we want (notice how I include me even though she is the one who is ultimately going to make the decision? but she respects my opinion, which she should since she taught me how to decorate) is a pale blue-green, like beach glass. But we have been burned on color before (the house shutters for example are way more green than intended) so we need to choose carefully. And artwork has been hard. My mom found a print she really liked but when we went to go buy it, it was way more yellow a background than the online picture had. With the white white furniture it just didn't work. So it's back to square one with art.

Why do the employee's at Lowe's act like they are doing you a huge favor when they help you? Isn't that their job? I needed some PVC pipe cut (I used it to hide the computer wiring behind my mom's new white open desk and it turned out great, you can't see the bazillion wires now) and when I asked the man working there to cut it for me, he said "How many cuts?" I don't know what the magic number at which he would have said no, but since I only needed one he reluctantly agreed to help. But I still think that they should be nicer about it and not act like I'm imposing. In this economy if I had a job I'd be grateful for it and I'd be bucking for employee of the month. Not grumpy and mean. But I saw where he cut it and if I ever need more I know where the tool is now. In case you need to know, at the Lowe's on Buffalo it's in to the plastic tubing section on the bottom shelf. I'm pretty sure they don't want you cutting it yourself because if you cut your finger off they would be opening themselves up liability wise, but if I can't get Grumpy to help me, what else can I do? Also, now I know where meth labs get their plastic tubing, at Lowe's. They have a huge selection.

My mom takes "Dancing with the Stars" way too personally. She feels bad for the ones who stink and thinks that celebrities that don't dance well shouldn't go on the show. She so doesn't understand Hollywood.

The George Forman grill makes a great panini press. I bought my mom a GF years ago that she never used. I got it out last week and made paninis and it worked perfectly. I made more last night. Yum.

Our cat sleeps like twenty hours a day. Is that normal? She goes outside in the mornings then pretty much sleeps on the Graminator's bed all day (with the occasional food break) and roams a little around the house in the evening. She likes to play a bit early in the day but after ten in the morning she's pretty much ready for her seven hour nap. She was a skinny little stray when we brought her in, now she's a giant fat cat. And she likes it that way. I've never had a cat so I don't know if it's normal or not.

Okay, I got to go find a brisket. Sorry for my ramble, but these were all short topics that couldn't make a full post out of themselves. Have a good Tuesday!