Here’s that thing that was stuck in my head and required my going to the craft store today. It didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but I am going to work on another one tomorrow or so and make a few changes.

Pan-broiled rib eye, roasted asparagus, and whole fried okra. Mmm … tasty!

Just as I laid down and Myu settled in to suck on the bed sheet, Lin called. He’d been to Home Depot looking at washing machines. They have a GE model, a few notches down from the one we have, on sale for $319, and so the rationalization for getting it has begun. He’d been trying to get the HD bill down low enough so we’d have enough credit to buy all the roofing supplies with it, but … it makes no sense to get this one repaired for a hundred bucks or to do laundry at a laundromat, and we both know it. I figure it’s going to cost us about $8 a week, just to wash the clothes and not dry them, plus the gas, and, of course, the time it takes to get there, sit there, and get home again to finish the laundry in my dryer. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math. A new washer will pay for itself in less than a year, and well … it’s been rather convenient doing laundry whenever I want or need to rather than when I have the time to go do it.

I’d have liked to be there when the sales guy tried to sell Lin on a top of the line model. Lin was telling me how they guy was selling him on how much better this one or that one was for delicates or whatnot. I can just see Lin rolling his eyes. I didn’t use half the settings on the one we have now. All I need is a tub that agitates at least at two speeds, several water levels, and hot, cold and warm settings. The very few things in this house that are wearables and could be described as delicate get hand washed anyway. We don’t own a lot of delicates. I’m a natural fiber girl, and Lin works construction. Our clothing tends to be on the tougher side. In fact, my main concern with having a plastic basket instead of a metal one was that our clothes might tear up the washer!

I don’t know if we’ll get it this week or not. I don’t really mind going to the laundromat for a few weeks. It’d be something different. I know it will get old, but if I know there’s a new washer coming eventually, I think I can survive it. I am happy that Lin is taking some measure of interest and showing concern about my laundry needs. It’s really sweet of him to care even when there are so many other things that need to be addressed around the house. Still … until I had a washer and dryer of my very own, I never realized how quickly and easily laundry could be done, at any hour of the day or night, and at a moment’s notice too. There is something to be said about having that convenience, let me tell you.

So I am sort of giddy about getting a new washing machine. I was really, really upset when ours broke, but I didn’t want to act too upset about it. I mean, I didn’t want to ask for a new one, you know? While, yes, Lin does benefit from getting his laundry done for him, a washing machine is really for me. I don’t like asking for things for me that are in the range of “expensive” even if it does benefit someone else somewhat. I’m sort of silly that way.

Now if the oven ever goes out, then … THEN there will be extensive whining and begging for a new one (and not just any one either). I might be willing to live without a washing machine for a while, but I can’t live without my gas oven.

Since I am awake now and Lin said he was going to call me back in a bit (no sense taking a nap in that case), I might as well go do the dishes and plot out something for dinner. Then maybe I can go to the craft store and poke at some beads and stuff. There’s time enough later for a nap.

I always say that, and then I don’t get to take a nap. I am convinced I have been so tired lately all because I am not getting my naps.

I think I am going to go to the craft store today. I’ve got something in my head. Any other creative types out there will probably know the feeling of getting something “in your head” and not being able to get it out again without doing something about it in a tangible way. I at least have to go look at some supplies and price them.

I tried painting yesterday. Nothing came of it. I tried knitting yesterday. Nothing came of that either. I swear it’s this awful damp and humidity that is sapping the creativity right out of me. Sure, you can turn on the air conditioning to cool the house down, but when the humidity outside is hovering in the area of 90%, unless you have a dehumidifier, it doesn’t matter how cool the house is. It’s still just miserable. The weather this summer has just been abominable and not in the usual ways. I almost wish we would have a few days of egg-frying heat and low humidity just to dry things out a bit.

Anyway, I have this thing in my head, and I want to do something about it. Of course, that means gathering up the energy to get into the truck and go somewhere. I actually don’t know if I have it in me today or not. I woke up with a sinus headache, and that’s never a good way to start the day.

But first, I think I’ll go back to bed for a little while. I went to bed early last night, but I still feel so damn tired this morning. An hour or two of snoozing with kitties is just the thing to solve that problem. Then I can move on to solving other problems … like what to make for dinner since I forgot to soak the beans last night.

Why, it’s a web site designed for myself, my LJ friend Alice, and all the rest of you out there who enjoy putting strange things in your microwaves … Easy Mac Micro Maniac!

My favorite? The Xmas lights. Lin has made me promise to not put Xmas lights in the microwave. You know I want to, but I suppose I should just live vicariously through the videos on the web site.

And for the truly determined and demented microwave experimenter: High Voltage in your Kitchen: Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments.

Lin decided to mow the lawn when he got home from work. It really needed it, but with it raining almost every day and the yard being constantly soggy, there hasn’t been a good time to do the mowing. At one point, I heard him talking to someone, and after looking out the window, it seemed like maybe he was talking to one of the Nice Neighbors, so I ignored it. Well, Lin came in cussing about how rude it is for Annoying Boy to come over and just walk into our back yard when the gate is open and then proceed to be a royal pain in the ass. Had I known it was Annoying Boy out there, I would have gone out and gotten rid of him.

Even more annoying than the fact he was out there flapping his jaws and driving Lin insane is the fact Lin said he was poking around in the back of the truck back there where Lin keeps some of his tools. I think we’ll be moving those into the laundry room. He can’t get into the gate from the outside, but the fence on their side of our house is only 3 foot tall. Why even I can crawl over it with no problems, and I am a super-klutz. I’ve been thinking that since that awful thorny rosebush that I hate is right where we want to plant the new Oleander, instead of just killing the thing (which really would be my first choice, as I hate that rosebush), maybe we should transplant it to that short fence and train it to grow all over it. Let me assure you, no one will crawl over that without ripping themselves to shreds. You can’t even walk near the thing without it biting you.

I also want some motion-sensitive security lights … the kind that are brighter than the sunlight on Mercury. They are just another part of my grand plan for the on-going war with the Insane Neighbors. I don’t feel I need them for security. I just want them to be as annoying as humanly possible. Move into the zone designated as MY yard and WHAM … hell-fire lights light up and blind you!

A few cameras would be nice too, but I realize I am dreaming about that ever happening. There are many, many other things far higher on the list than cameras to keep an eye on the Insane Neighbors for me.

I’m starving, and dinner is at that stopping point where I can hold it until Lin is ready to eat, but he won’t commit to a time. I can’t even get out of him whether or not he wants to take a shower first. Dammit! I want dinner now! I’m tired and grumpy and my tummy says it is time to eat! I think I will go pester him about it. I’d like to make dinner and get it eaten before I am too sleepy to care.

That’s about it for today. I had such a boring and mundane sort of Monday, I can’t even make it seem interesting at all. Some days are just that dull, you know?