Of pinatas and electricians.

The electrician made it by today. The outlets are installed, but they're not 'hot' just yet. He couldn't hook them up to the electrical panel, because our panel is so outdated that you can't just find a replacement breaker for them anywhere. He has to try to find one on Monday. Thankfully, it's still supposed to be nice and cool on Monday.

The outlets look really nice, even though they had to be put up by the windows, instead of down below like typical outlets are. If they weren't being installed on an outside wall, it would be no big deal, but it would have been a lot more work to have them lower than it was worth, so we'll just deal with it. And like I said. They look nice. And it's going to be super nice to have the air conditioners each on their own dedicated outlet, so they're not popping the breaker every few minutes when it gets hot out!

I finished my meese today! Well, except that I can't post pictures just yet, because I do still have to finish the groom's hat. But it turned out really cute. I think they'll like it. It's full of 7.5 pounds of candy, and it feels like it weighs about 30 pounds tonight. Amazing how heavy things feel when you're tired.

I did etch a cookie jar for Mom's upcoming birthday. It's a 2.5 gallon clear glass canister. It's hard to see in this picture, but there are two ladybugs below the flower*. I'll be doing what I can to bake a bunch of cookies to fill it.

First on the agenda are Spice Drop Cookies. We always had them at Christmas time when we were little. There's something so good about biting into that chewy spice drop goodness in the middle of a cookie. The spice drops have already been sliced and are just waiting to be used.

This gives a bit better view of the ladybugs. It's funny how silver the etching looks in the pictures, because it's not silver at all. Just etched glass.

I realized my great need for bifocals while trying to cut the pattern out for this design. Getting old just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not that I'd like to be getting younger. There are just certain years I'd never like to live over again. Life just seems to get better and better!

I've got to go to bed. I have to bake tomorrow. And hopefully make caramels that are to die for. It's going to be another really long day, but it will be good.

*Now for the small print. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce this design in any way, shape, or form, as it is my own personal design, and I'd really rather not see it anywhere else. Thanks!

Humilation can be a great motivator.

Today was a really long day, but I got a lot accomplished and may have solved a small but horrifying and embarrassing mystery along the way. Normally, I think I would literally die of embarrassment rather than mention this to a soul, but I'm trying really hard to be honest on my blog about how hoarding has affected me or our family. And this is a direct result of the hoarding. So, if you don't see any sort of post from me for a day or two, assume I'm dead and call the authorities.

I've been so busy working on the pinata and getting some other things together for our family reunion that's coming up next week that I had to scramble this morning to get things ready for the electrician to come over. He was supposed to be over at 1:00 this afternoon, but he almost always shows up early, so I wanted to be ready, and I had a ton to get done.

The other night, Bugster came over and watched the girls for me, so I could run some errands and get some stuff I needed for the pinatas. While she was here, she boxed the stuff up that was all over in the office. There was a lot on the floor, and it kills me to pick things up from the floor, especially when there's a lot to pick up, so she boxed things up for me. Plus, it gives me a better frame of mind to be able to walk in the office and not have something underfoot the entire time, and it may be easier to just deal with one box at a time when it comes to sorting things. So it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I know that boxing things up isn't always a good idea. But I just needed the space something fierce. One of the air conditioners is in the office, and the electrician is going to install a dedicated outlet for each of the air conditioners, and I needed to make room. And the night that Bugster came over and boxed things up for me it was hot in the house. It had been a very warm day, and the air conditioners kept popping the breaker, and by the time I got back from running errands, she was feeling half sick from the heat. So she left the rather large pile on the floor for me to finish.

I put it off for a couple of days, because I knew I'd hurt when I was done. Sitting on the floor kills my back, and I'd have to sit on the floor, because sitting on a stool and reaching to the floor hurts it even more. So I grabbed the home phone, my cell and my drink and sat down on the floor to get busy. I was able to get rid of 3 more bags of shredables, 5 grocery bags of trash, found some missing socks, and put the small pile of stuff I saved away to sort later. I didn't have time to do it this morning.

By the time I got done and had worked a bit more on another pinata, I realized it was getting sort of late, and I needed to work in the bedroom. So I woke my husband up and told him that I was sorry, but that I had to get things cleared for the electrician to work in there. He understood and got up and showered and then did what he needed to do in the garage, so the electrician could get to the panel without a problem. He also helped me move the bed, which is a Goliath of a piece of furniture. I couldn't move it without him.

I was flabbergasted at the amount of dust under and behind the bed, and I went on a cleaning frenzy to get as much done as quickly as possible. I found several pair of socks that had slid under the bed, several medicine bottles that had disappeared over the months since I'd gotten things cleaned under the bed (most were empty), and several pair of shoes I'd thought I'd thrown away. I'll be going through the shoes as time permits and wearing them around the house. If they're horribly uncomfortable, or if my back hurts after wearing them, I'll pitch them in the trash. Otherwise, I'll have an extra pair or two to wear outside when I'm gardening or working in the yard. I think I actually filled the canister vac up with dust bunnies. They were thick to say the least.

When I was done there, I realized that things were going to fall over in the hallway, if I didn't straighten things up a bit. I threw a lot of stuff away and condensed what I will be going through later into two much smaller stacks than had been in there. However, when I came across one box, I froze in my tracks for a minute. And I was angry. I have no idea how this box came to be, but it frustrates me to no end. I know that it wasn't me who did it. That being said, I'm not angry at the person responsible for putting the items in the box, because I know that they were trying to help. It just didn't work out that way.

I hate just filling boxes to go through later. I despise it. I'd honestly rather have the mess than the boxes most of the time, because I know that I'll eventually get to it, if I can see the mess. When things are boxed up, it makes it harder for me to remember what I've got to do. Needless to say, Buster was shocked I'd asked her to just box things up in the office the other night, because she knows how I feel about it.

Well, what I found today just confirmed why I hate to have things boxed up. The box was only about half full, and a gallon water jug took up most of the space that had been used. However, when I pulled back the newspaper that was under the water jug, my heart sank. There in the bottom of the box was a bag of potatoes and an onion. There were probably only a couple or 3 potatoes in the bag. It wasn't like a full bag went to waste. However, there was evidence of rotten potato juice on the newspapers that were under them. And the onion was hollowed out. It has sprouted at one point, but the sprouts were long since brown. There were also carcasses of several small bugs in the box. They looked to be little beetles, but I didn't examine them very closely.

Finding this box explains so very much. Rotten potatoes are one of my biggest asthma triggers. And these had been dead a long time. But I can't help but think that they have played a major role in my asthma over the last several months. The asthma I've had to take oral steroids for 6 or so times over the last 8 months. I have had so many sinus issues as well, and that's probably why I didn't smell them. At this point, the smell was pretty much gone, except for the smell of dust. And it doesn't help that this box was in the hallway that has the air intake for the furnace. Yep. This box has played a very negative role in my recent health. No more.

Finding this box released all sorts of emotions for me. Shame. Frustration. Anger. Humilation. Relief. Understanding. Inspiration. Motivation.

I am so motivated to see this dehoarding to an end. I am motivated that the health of our family will improve greatly once we get through this ordeal. So as embarrassing as it was, I'm glad on so many levels that I came across this box. I can't wait to get everything finished, so we can have the duct work in the house thoroughly cleaned, since it will never again be as bad as it's been. We will be breathing easy then!

Oh. And the electrician? Yeah. He didn't show up. He'd been out of town for a funeral and had gotten stuck out of state an extra day. He'll be here at 1:00 tomorrow. And it won't even bother us that we won't be able to use the electricity while he's working on things, because it's going to be nice and cool! We're getting a break from the heat. The high tomorrow is in the 50s! That just sounds heavenly!

I discovered something today.

It is really, really hard to blow up a balloon after you've visited the dentist. Well. Not necessarily if you just visit the dentist. But trying to blow up a balloon when only half your mouth works, because you look like you have Bells Palsy from the numbing agents injected into your cheek and mouth? Yeah. That's hard. I ended up having to put a finger along the side of my mouth to make a tight enough seal that I could blow the balloon up. Yeah. That was embarrassing. But funny. I laughed.

My mouth is a bit sore where he gave me the shots, but I had more than the normal amount again. He was getting 2 teeth ready for their crowns. I had root canals done on these 2 teeth a couple years ago. But get this. Root canals leave the teeth with no feeling, as the nerves/roots have been removed. However, after the first course of shots, I could feel pain. So he gave me a second course. Once again, I could feel pain. So he ended up giving me an entirely different deadening agent, and it worked. It also totally numbed my left ear and my nose completely, and my mouth didn't work for several hours, but at least I could no longer feel anything.

There's just something about the way the nerves run in my face. It's genetic, I think, because several in my family have the same issues. In fact, one brother refuses any sort of deadening when he has to go to the dentist. It just makes his face numb, but it never seems to reach the nerve that is attached to the tooth that needs to be deadened. At least I know I'm not alone.

I finished the meese pinata today. Why is the plural of moose moose when the plural of goose is geese? I personally like 'meese', so I shall henceforce refer to plural moose as 'meese'. So. I finished the meese pinata for the most part. I still have to do the finishing touches and fill it with copious amounts of candy. Like probably 10 pounds of candy. We fill our pinatas well.

I did send a couple of people pictures of the meese as they look right now with only nostrils, ears and antlers. I don't want to post the pictures here until I'm finished with it though. I still have to attach eyes, eyebrows (bushy ones for the groom), long fake eyelashes for the bride, a top hat and bow tie for the boy and a veil and a string of pearls for the girl. When I'm done with all that, I'll post pictures. Right now, they're sitting in front of the fan trying to dry out.

Speaking of fans. It's hot today again. Not quite as sweltering as it's been, but that's okay. We'll get that tomorrow. We'll also get dedicated outlets for the air conditioners tomorrow, so they won't keep popping the breakers! That is going to be so nice! The electrician will be here in the early afternoon. Hubby will be running the line in the attic to help keep the costs down.

I'm really, really hoping that hubby can maybe install the junction box in the girls' room, so we can get the ceiling fan installed that we bought for there a few years ago. That would really help with keeping the house cooler, too. Besides, it has butterflies on it, and you can't go wrong with butterflies. Right? At any rate, I'm really hoping we can get it installed this weekend, if not tomorrow.

We also really need something to keep heat out of the kitchen window now that the tree is gone. I've got some ideas that I'm kicking around. If I can get a roller shade wide enough for the window, I could line it with a space blanket to reflect the light back outside. I'm thinking it might be the most affordable way to do things, but it depends on whether or not I can get the right size. I could trim it, if it was too big for the window. I just don't really care to put two side by side, if I can't find one wide enough. I'll be looking into this option for sure.

Well. It's that time again. Time for me to do something. Sleep, I think is what it is, although my memory is sort of fried in this heat.

I'm sure it will come to me soon enou