One more round looming?

Yeesh. A small window of opportunity is cracking open... To jump through or to let it pass?

Sometimes I do use logic, and if I don't find a reason for 'why not' - then the game's on. Seems I'll be home alone again this weekend for two days. College courses online are still at the beginning 'slow' stage and survey work is caught up (okay, so I haven't done taxes or mailed my Christmas letters yet - details).

The porch I'd hoped to get done along with my room awaits. Yesterday friend Pete dropped off a couple deck pieces - from Menard's tear-out. Good plywood, good 2 x 4's - would answer the need for floor boards if I did the porch? Hmmm....

I have the Styrofoam to surface the concrete floor, the plywood to surface the Styrofoam. The ceiling needs to be ripped out (reminds me, it's Garbage Day, I need to roll the can up so I can refill it) and I have plastic to seal it. One door is toooooo low and opens in -- that may be the most challenging issue.

I planned to drop the ceiling light to a wall-mount, and it should be easy enough to track this wire once the ceiling's pulled off. If not, I'll add a box and line straight to the wall.

If I get on this project, it means I need to remove a few cupboards, move the washer and dryer, cut one door, board off a wall, add a light fixture, put up plastic from ceiling to floor, and generally make a mess of things.

But my tools are still in the house.

If'n I got it done, the treadmill in the living room could be porched. And this area would be improved, in that it, too, has the same roofing issues as my room - i.e., poor insulation, no air space, and I'm sure mutilated plastic working as no moisture barrier.

Am I ready to take it on?

I dunno, the window is but a small opportunity to jump or not, and jumping usually gets me further along. Not jumping means I'll have to deal with it another day, and I do have 'other life' somewhat on a simmer.

If I took a vote, how many say, "Jump!"? .... oh shit, I think I'm at it again!

Horoscopes squared and starred

Sometimes horoscopes hit right on... February 26 read, "Things may be a bit crazy early in the day as we process the lingering effects of the imaginative Pisces Moon's conjunction with outrageous Uranus..." I didn't need to be told that things were pretty crazy around here! I was turning a headboard into a shelving unit and doors into beds and Menard's scrapped 'break-room' walls into a closet and clearing 6 inches of snow off the driveway.

Would be convenient to blame my insanity on the stars, hm?

One of my past favorites read, "Try to blend in and don't do anything too strange today." I took it to mean symbolically burning a fur coat - since I wouldn't sacrifice a goat - to appease the Gods in the front yard with incense burning under the moonlight while living in town was potentially extreme. So the coat lived. But I could have used some help from whatever Deity appreciates the smell of burning hair... Or maybe not, because what kind of strange Deity is that? One with a poor sense of smell is my guess, and possibly a lower IQ-type to appeal to.

Today the headline on the horoscope attracted me. "Several planets align on four tips of a cosmic seven-pointed star today, indicating an unfathomable complexity that lurks in the shadows." I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but since yesterday was named for my arch-enemy, Square Root Day, "unfathomable complexity lurking around" is mildly alarming. Not sure if I should try to do my taxes or shoe-horn the rest of my belongings into my room - both seem exceptionally complex, and most would agree they're unfathomable.

That's a word to wrap one's tongue around: unfathomable. But it doesn't compare to my favorite word, 'flabbergasted'. That's one that rolls around and means what it means; origin is unknown, so it seems to have just popped out of someone when they were. Not leaving well enough alone, I also like the abbreviated version, as in "I was flabbered by it all."

I am planning to visit the recycled building supply store today, and I can only hope no new "unfathomable complexity" springs out at me. Looks like the day may be interesting. Only thing to do is live it and see how it turns out, hopefully not being too flabbered or skewered by something unfathomable. I may try to draw a seven-pointed star, or keep my eye out for one. :)

I saw a Shrink but drove him Crazy

I have a wicker chicken, and in it is scraps of paper from years ago. One old scrap has some scribbled budgeting with a company I haven't been with in years; on the back is some type of sketch of a building or something I can no longer identify. On the front I had written these words:

"When you get done telling me why it can't be done, then tell me how we're going to do it."

I see where my life is darn near predictable - I'm still doing the same thing. I've got a new puddle of these papers from the last two weeks, with 'What If?' sketches of beds and shelves and closets. A lot of it just morphed as I went along, and it's not completely done yet.

Since I'm creating as I go, a lot of it has been worked and reworked, cut down, evened up, revised, replaced, undone, redone. Yesterday I did this again - redefined the bed area so I could utilize the space above as a work table / storage / book area. I finally managed to get my 300-favorite books back in my room.

The psychological effect of having the books back is "okayness" even though the curtains and walls and other areas aren't finished. I think anyone designing a storm shelter should put some books in it. It's like having friends with you. Book-people understand this.

Now that I'm psychologically okay again in my space, I need to get on with other Life than fixing my room. I can say, despite the subzero temps, it's massively warmer in here. The 'foundation cold' used to leech in, slither across my feet, and slowly wrap itself up my legs in an icy grip. It'd strike upwards through the computer, chilling hands and arms, and I'd hover over the electric heater, often propping my feet on it.

My room looks like the inside of a Styrofoam cooler yet and the porch isn't done, but it's warmer and I have my books.

And all this started with a semester-break and stumbling over a huge quantity of Styrofoam at the right moment. Wonder what's next... AND - I'd rather be outside playing with rocks in mild weather. Knowing this, last fall I put a tarp over my rock pile, so even if the ground is still froze when the urge comes upon me, I can still move them around. I'm just waiting the weather to break. :)