Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

On Sunday I’m taking off for the middle of Virginia for two weeks of training for work. Haven’t started a packing list yet, but I know I’ll be doing a lot of laundry (and perhaps some ironing) in preparation. Business casual attire. It’s also finally going to get cold in this part of the world, so perhaps sweaters will be in order. Not that I own many of those; they tend to be too warm for me in most indoor environments.

Hit the grocery store relatively early this morning, where it was busy but not overwhelmed. No wait at the deli counter, and a normal wait at the checkout line. Might have to do one more trip before I leave to stock the husband up on non-perishable foodstuffs.

We decorated the interior of the townhouse for Xmas. Three trees up (two in the living room, one on the top floor), lego villages, etc. We’ll hang the exterior lights tomorrow or Friday. Tomorrow we’re continuing a new Thanksgiving tradition and spending the day building a big lego set (Barad Dür, to go with the Rivendell set we built last year), though it’ll likely take us more than the day to build, depending on how dedicated we are. Simple fare is planned, nothing fancy, lots of carbs. Talked him into a snacking cake sized dessert (8×8 inch pan, single layer) rather than something huge; should fit in the toaster oven while I make melting potatoes in the regular oven.

Yarn store didn’t have the color I needed to complete the hat, but they’ve ordered some for me (it’s one they carry regularly). The husband picked out a green for a version of the same hat, and while I’ve wound the yarn I haven’t started it yet. Will take the yarn with me to Virginia, along with a Woobles advent calendar I purchased earlier this year. No lack of projects at this point.

Saw my sister-in-law and niece off this morning, after they popped down for the holiday weekend.

Made some homemade pumpkin spice coffee additive last night (1.5 cups sugar, 1.5 cups water, bring to boil over medium heat, whisk in 4 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, lower heat to simmer for 20 more minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (and cheesecloth, if you have it, to further reduce the solids) and add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stores in the fridge for up to a week). Also made toddy coffee concentrate, so had homemade iced pumpkin spice lattes this morning (1/2 cup concentrate, 3/4 cup milk, 2 Tablespoons PSL mix). Was tasty. I’m normally a black coffee drinker, so anything beyond that is exotic for me, but this was a nice treat. And the SIL was impressed, which is what really counts.

PT this afternoon. I have some pitting edema going on, meaning there’s still a lot of extra fluid in the knee, so if that’s still there at the end of next week I get to ask the orthopedist about that. Flexion was about the same as last week, which may be related to the extra fluid at this point.

Short week last week (and weird because of the almost-government-shut-down), short week this week. My new attorney shadow gets here in two weeks; it’s someone I recruited from my old agency, so I know I’ll work well with him. Looking forward to training him on the new agency, and a new area of law, as well as passing off some of the stuff that I’m not as well versed in but that he has much more experience with.

Oooh, we played Uno Flip last night and really enjoyed it. The husband and I own it, but hadn’t played it, and it was quite a fun variation on the regular uno. Both sides of the cards are playable, a light side and a dark side, and every now and again people can make the deck flip from one to the other, which also flips all the cards in your hand. Kept things lively.

Got some more of the Halloween stuff put up, including the green-purple-orange light strings we bought last year but didn’t get up (maybe we bought them at the end of the season on sale? I don’t remember why they didn’t get put up). Our neighbor does a much better job with it than we do, but we outshine them at Xmas. 😉

Today was a catch up day for work, especially catching up to a couple of thorny things where I needed time to sit down and actually be able to read up on 1) what the problem was; and 2) potential solutions. The craziness of email and meetings do not lend themselves to lengthy consideration, so was nice to have time to actually sit and ruminate on a couple problems, as well as coming up with the solutions.

We installed some new accent lights on the Ikea bookshelves in our respective offices, and now I feel the need to reorganize said bookshelves, at least the ones in my office, to make them a bit less cluttered. Since that’s my usual video conferencing background I like to have it clean but fun (books, legos, pop vinyls, and other toys abound). I always get nice comments on how much fun it is to see all of the toys, but I think it needs a bit of curating at the moment. And more storage space for some of it.

You know you needed to clean when doing so sets off your allergies (from all the dust that’s kicked up).

Yesterday I sent the boy off to a conference for the weekend, and dropped the dawg off at dawggie day care. Got the oxygen sensor in the mini replaced this morning. Been cleaning off and on since, and I think it was the vacuuming that pushed my allergies over the edge. Ah well, at least there aren’t obvious dust bunnies all over the place now, even if my nose is going nuts. We painted last weekend, putting black chalkboard paint on half the entryway hall (and it works; it’s not like that hallway could get any darker, so the black doesn’t detract), and a nice green (“Douglas Fir”) in the living room:

Plus we moved around some furniture, and with all that it stirred up a lot of dust and carpet fuzz. So today has been putting things away, finding new spots for things, and rocking out to Queen’s Platinum Collection.

But now I think it may be time to goof off a bit with the Playstation.

If for no other reason, I want the election done and over with so I can know how chaotic the next two months after that will be (transition to a new administration [high chaos] versus retention of the incumbent [mild chaos]). Add to the normal mess this whole “sequestration” thingey and I’m not making any travel plans for late December, much to the boy’s annoyance, since we’re supposed to go to Boston and then to the midwest for a wedding. It would be nice if we could count on Congress acting like adults, but they won’t, so in the meantime the rest of us are stuck.

Went in to get new orthoses from a new podiatrist this morning. Hoping these will be better. We talked a lot about the mechanics of the inserts and what did and didn’t work, so feeling pretty good about this set. Will be nice to be able to run again. Saw the dentist Tuesday, teeth are all good. Seeing a new allergist next week, which should be interesting, not least because I’m off allergy meds for the next week. The last time I got tested the only result was being told that I was pretty much allergic to everything, which was neither helpful nor illuminating. So I’m looking for a bit more precision this time, and a different treatment regimen. I’m just tired of taking sudafed daily to dry out my sinuses. Breathing normally without drugs would be a welcome change.

The boy and I are slowly fixing my apartment for his eventual move in. We both have plans this weekend, so can’t do the furniture move/painting we thought we could, so that’ll shift to the weekend after. It’s good that we have time to adapt it and don’t have to do it at once, I think that’s going to help me with the transition. I suspect it’ll be harder on me since we’re taking a space that I’ve had as a solo sanctuary and sticking two people in it. Not that it’ll be stress free for him, either, but hey, my blog, my feelings.

Had a really successful bike ride on Saturday. 101 miles, no cramping. Did get tired of eating, but no burping up with a completely full stomach, so managed to keep hydrated and thoroughly electrolyted. It was another ride where I focused on hydration with the result that I constantly had to pee. Again. Just like Total 200. Better that than cramps, but man, got tired of hunting for port-a-johns and bathrooms on the way. Keep this up and I’m going to get to know all of them on the W&OD.

Didn’t get started until 9, which is roughly when I should be starting the IM, depending on when I get into the water. It all worked, even with a rest break at the 1/2 way point and a popped tube in the middle of suburbia, so I think I should be able to get through the thing now. I used Nuun rather than a caloried sports drink this time, and I think that made the difference. I kept the aero bottle between the bars and one of my water bottles filled with water, and one water bottle filled with Nuun. I’d alternate sipping some Nuun after eating with sipping water. I think I may have found the right mix to get through the bike. Hopefully the mix that worked for the run at Eagleman will work as well at Louisville.

So far so good.

In other news™ I’ve been dating someone I’ll call The Boy here for a month now. It’s going well, and I’m enjoying it. He lives a way out in Northern Virginia, but we’ve managed to see each other at least once or twice a week since we first met back on the 1st of July. He’s off with his family to Maine for a week starting tomorrow, so won’t see him at all in the next week, though I imagine there will be much texting. Dragged him out to Nerd Brunch, my regular Sunday thing, as well as a game day party, and so far that’s worked. Am enjoying the company. He’s roughly my size, so we fit together well while cuddling on the couch.

Speaking of couches, I finally ordered a new one, one I hope will be more conducive to the aforementioned cuddling. It’ll be delivered in a couple of months, by which point I’ll have figured out what to do with the current one. It’s not a sleeper, unlike the current one, so I added an ottoman that is a sleeper in a matching fabric. Ever so slowly the living room will come together.

Took a personal day today to get the annual eye exam done, and drop off the mini for needed maintenance. While I was out and about I decided to run by the local hardware store over on Capitol Hill and check out some paint colors. Picked up three samples for the bedroom and one for the bathroom. The bathroom one is going to work, I think, and it’s a shame that the sample is the wrong kind of paint for a ‘wet’ room because that little pot would cover the whole kit & kaboodle. The three in the bedroom will need to be observed over several days in different lights to see which of them I am going to want. They’re all in a grey-blue tone, of varying bits of blue and varying degrees of light/dark. I suspect the lightest is going to be the one to go with, but I need to see them in different light first.

And yes, it has taken me four years to get paint. Hush.

I also picked up a little razor/knife thingey to enable me to cut several light switch covers and electrical covers off the walls where the idjits who painted the apartment before I moved in painted over them. If I ever catch a contractor I’ve hired doing the same, I’ll skin ’em alive. I’ve now replaced the covers in the kitchen, front hall and bathroom. Forgot (or didn’t look) to get three other light switches, but I can get those when I go back for the paint. Gotta say, I am SOOOO glad I got rid of that stupid blue ceramic cover in the bathroom. Ugh. That thing drove me nuts. Replaced them all with pewter-tone steel, which matches the aluminium ‘theme’ of the cult co-op. Next step will be replacing the actual switches and plugs in the walls, as they’re all disgustingly dirty and mostly painted over in varying hues. But that’s for another day when I feel like sitting down and (not) playing with electricity.

I must be unconsciously watching my language around Mike because I actually managed to shock him with a hearty expletive (“fuck!”) this evening. That or I’ve stopped cursing as much, which is entirely possible since I’m stuck around so many political appointees these days.

Orientation day for the newbies is Saturday and we usually do a run afterward. This year, probably not so much, since it’s forecast to be 28 degrees and snowing. Whee! Not what I want to drag a bunch of new triathletes out into, personally. All the docs are current for them, though, including the next month of workouts, so now it’s just getting the clinics set up.

Need to pick up an X-Acto knife this weekend so I can start the process of replacing light switches and electrical sockets. Having looked at the paint jobs in the hallways I think I can say definitively that the estate I purchased the apartment from had the cult’s co-op’s own workers repaint the unit, because like the hallway, all of the electrical sockets and light switches were painted over when I moved in. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, and there’s no reason for it when it’s relatively simple to either tape or remove and replace the covers while painting. So, I’d like to get those fixed, at least the ones that are in public view, so they don’t look so sloppy. And I’m dying to replace the awful (and filthy) blue light switch cover in the bathroom. That can’t happen soon enough for my tastes.