Thursday, March 27, 2008

Riki Tiki Tavi

Lots of things making me happy this week. It got started off right when I dropped my friend at the airport and went to shop for a wine glass rack and a way to enclose my open shelving. Well, the stemware rack didn't pan out, but I did find a fun outdoor tablecloth that I used on the patio. And I found a name for the tiki totem - Riki Tiki Tavi, with the middle word being /TEE-kee/ instead of /TIH-kee/ like the mongoose.

This is as good as I could come up with for "before" pictures. When I first moved in, before the patio closet got reworked, I had a bunch of junk in a heap. Hard to use.
bunch of junk on patio

It got better, but was still being used for storage of stuff I didn't really want to leave where it was. When Riki showed up, I cut out the rest of the stuff from the picture, but these were his surrounds.
kind of messy patio

He deserved better, and my friend helped me throw stuff out and resort the rest. The dead and dying plants are gone. Then I cleaned off most of the dust and dead leaves, wrapped the open shelving (dark pink in the first pic), and got this. Much more user friendly and cleanable - it's really dusty this year.
cleaned up patio

And my mom wants to see a picture of my couch. Here it is before I moved my desk, although I still have the gap between the 2 pieces because I like it like that for now, with an end table and lamp between. I've gunked it all up again with a pile of pre-tax paperwork or I'd take a better picture.


But when placed together, it looks like this.


Other good stuff this week:
  • My friend is having a baby tomorrow and I got invited to go see her in the hospital. To me, this whole concept of scheduled birth seems both wrong and civilized. I can't quite wrap my mind around them not being in a startled panic when things start to happen. It's weird how much the whole birth concept is tied with uncertainty, even today.
    • On that theme, I'm continually taken aback by the fact that we can't sex human skeletons without a pelvis. For all our outward differences, men and women are built on the same frame with one different main hinge.

  • Work is not sucking the life out of me. I'm leaving while there's still plenty of sunlight. Partly because we had a fab shutdown to do facilities work so I didn't have to split my attention between projects and sustaining, partly because I don't have a deadline stackup this week.

  • So I found out my desire to start every sentence with "so" (and likely "but" or "and" as well) is very Minnesotan. Ya, sure, you betcha. Have some hotdish.

  • The weather here is idyllic. A little chilly in the morning (mid 50s), gorgeous at lunch (80), warmish after work (72 at the farmer's market). The sun shining through the cirrus clouds today felt wonderful.

  • It's blood orange and strawberry season at the farmers market. And the Japanese hydroponics ladies reliably provide my cucumbers and the varietal of cherry tomato I can eat raw.

  • I submitted my FSA medical reimbursement paperwork and they already cut the check. It will pay for most of the fridge. I might also get some "missing money" from Mass - my brother found my name on a website and I unearthed the paperwork this week and filled out forms. We'll see.

  • I really like these curtains. Not sure if they work in my scheme or if I'll be ready for them before they get discontinued, but they make me happy now.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those before-and-after pics are pretty amazing. Does this mean you can now actually sit out on your patio and enjoy the fresh air... er, fresh dust?

Good luck to your friend with the baby. Even though it's scheduled, she's probably still got plenty of uncertainty right now.

farmwifetwo said...

Pre-booked beats emergency (been there done that twice) hands down. My SIL's were pre-booked. Oversized babies and they were horizontal not vertical in the womb.

Ask QL about the epidural shakes :) :) Hoping all goes well.

CrankyOtter said...

I can in fact sit on the patio and read with a cup of tea on sunday morning. It was very nice.

And the QL update is in the next post. I like how the planned c-section lets you plan.