Something about traction...

I climb into bed sometime after the hubby is already asleep.  As I pull the blankets over he mumbles something about 'gave up.'  I asked what gave up.  He told me that the cat gave up.  Of course I ask him what the cat gave up.  He then told me that the cat gave up traction.  He would not elaborate any further on the matter and just went back to snoring after that.  Of course he doesn't remember any of this in the morning.  I really need to get something to record these conversations to prove they happen.

It also seems that they weren't done with my porch thing.  I was awoken this morning, earlier than I had hoped, but the door bell.  I hear the Hubby downstairs so I tried to go back to sleep.  It went off again so I went down to check it out.

It was one of the guys who had been here before.  I saw a few long poles of the PVC wood they used.  Seems like I am getting those little fringe things around the bottom.  I'm not sure what else I will be getting but time will tell.

By 'time will tell' I seem to mean right now.  Right as I finished typing that sentence I heard my doorbell ring.  He was done with his part and needed his extension cord back.

super cold and windy out there, I do it for you

As you can see from the picture, the fringe are unpainted.  It also looks like regular wood, so it might not be the PVC stuff.  I'm hoping someone will be out to paint them before too long.  Though I learned from me mom that our flag holder had been painted, so it was probably still good to use.  I didn't know this so I didn't take it down or anything before they came out.  For some reason I like being able to keep as much of the house the same as I can.  I have a little bell on the window sill that came with the house that I love.

They might also be waiting until it is a bit warmer to paint.  So far is has only dropped twenty degrees since yesterday, but that still puts it below freezing.  The paint might freeze before it has time to dry.

I was worried that this would interfere with some of my morning plans.  I was going to go over to the Good Will and see if I can find a white sweater to wear to work.  After that was a quick run into the grocery store to get some cheese to make the Double-Stuffed Butternut Squash that I linked before, but caught my eye more than the other recipes I found.  The guy took less than an hour to do what he needed to, so it looks like I didn't need to have worried any.

This is what my butternut squash half looked like after coming out of the oven.  It was actually a lot of fun to make.  One suggestion I have is to use a fork to scrape out the inside, I used a spoon at first and ended up with some bigger chunks than I would like.

Forget cheesy pizza, this is my new favorite cheesy food.  Luckily for me it is fun to make a bit more healthy than pizza.  I did not add the bacon like the recipe suggests since I was trying to keep it a bit lighter.  Though from reexamining the recipe I might not have cut back on the cheese as much as I should have, so I guess I didn't really make it any lighter in the end.  At one point I was going to make one whole squash for part of dinner one night, but then I got impatient.  I had figured how much I needed to add of everything for that.  This morning I decided to make only one half and forgot to divide everything in half again.  The hubby might be more willing to eat it in this state though.

Good Will went pretty well.  I found a sweater that was pretty cute and I even found something nerdy there.  I thought a bit of the finish from a Disappearing Tardis mus had been worn off but I bought it anyway.  Turns out that little bit of matte area was the only bit left of the color change.  Oh well, I still have 1/8th of a disappearing Tardis.  It is still a good sized mug nonetheless.

I also got an 'interesting' e-mail back about the HandiBac.  I asked if they no longer carry that product and the reply told me they no long carry it... to some degree.  I could tell it was a form e-mail because it informed me that they understood my "disappointment in discovering that your favorite fragrance is not currently part of our product assortment."  Last I checked I sent an e-mail about a product line and not about a particular smell.  However if I was interested I could get some "additional personalized product recommendations, we invite you to contact us by phone so that we can assist you further.  Our Fragrance Experts will be happy to guide you to the perfect purchase."  I'm not sure how a fragrance expert will help me to purchase something they no longer carry, but that is form letters for you.  My dad sent in a letter to a radio company because he tried a cinnamon bun after they said it was the 'worst thing for you' and he loved it.  He got a letter saying that if he loved their stories that he could donate money.

Write about what you are worrying about right now.

There are a few things I am generally worried about now.  I thought that I have been eating better than I had been previously, but the scale is not agreeing with me.  I'm worried that I won't be able to lose any weight in time for Katsucon and my costume won't look very good.
I'm also worried that I'm going to fail at my Etsy shop again because I am not putting in enough effort.  I am just having problems getting time management down.  I have that, my charity crafting, and my day-job.  It would be nice if my Etsy shop could replace my day-job.  I'm worried that I am going to be making a ton of stuff and then not be able to sell any of it on my Etsy shop.  The reverse of that is that I'm worried I will be at my day-job forever.  I didn't mean to be there for very long, but in March I will be reaching five years with them.  Way longer than I planned when I vowed to never work retail again after the job before this one.  I know that an Etsy shop counts as a type of retail, but I will be aiming to pay myself well and give myself breaks when I need it.
I'm worried that I'm not doing well enough at my house wifely things.  I have been doing better, but I still don't know where I want everything still.  There is also the fact that we talked about having the basement re-finished a few years ago and that still has not happened.  Along those lines I am worried that even when we get that done I won't be able to organize it well enough.
I'm worried that I put doing stuff of too long.  I had one of the best Guinea pigs and I was going to build him a nice big cage.  I got some fleece so I could make some reusable lining for the cage.  It's true I got him when he was already an adult piggie but I still didn't make the cage before he passed.  I want to get some more little piggle-whees(what I like calling Guinea pigs) but I have decided that I am going to finish that cage before I get them. 

Those things are just my general worries but there is one worry that is yearly.  This is the third year this has happened to me.  November goes flying by and before I know it Turkey Day is the next week.  I'm not worried about Turkey Day itself, I am planning on making some yummy appetizers to take over to my parents' house.  I'm worried about the two days after.  Black Friday and (as work calls it) Black Saturday.  Those are two days where I have to get up at insane times and work for much longer than I care for.  To get to work by the 5:45am they usually call for on Black Friday I have to leave my house around five o'clock so that means I have to be up around 4am.  Last year I worked a twelve hour shift on Friday.
I'm usually pretty good at falling asleep, but when I add an alarm into the mix I have the hardest time.  Add in that I am trying to go to sleep after setting alarm at 10pm means I won't be getting much sleep.  I usually end-up falling asleep around 1am and only get a few hours of sleep.  Last year people in the cul-de-sac next to me decided that 11pm was an awesome time to set off fireworks.  Normally I would love that, but not when I'm trying to convince myself that I'm tired.
We also get so much product that we won't sell for months, but we have to try and figure out where to put it.  Then we have to worry about it falling on people.

It hits me how close to Black Friday about a week and a half before the day.  I always consider quitting, but I know that even if I do I will still have to work on Black Friday.  I also keep saying that I will find something non-retail to do, but that doesn't seem to have worked so far.  Though I will admit I do have more things in my Etsy shop than I have before so if I upped my advertising, I might be able to make that work.  It would definitely mean I won't spend as much just getting to work.
One of the worst things is the whole "Black" day is leaking out into other days.  We have the usual Black Friday, but also Black Saturday, and now Black Wednesday is being added.  We shouldn't even be having any addition sales or anything beyond the normal on Saturday because we are not a small business.  I also don't get the whole big deal about Black Friday, you really can get better deals between Turkey Day and Christmas.  Some companies are even starting Black Friday on Thursday night.  How does that even make sense?  I try to now encourage Black Friday, but there are so many more people who love it that I'm sure no one really notices.  I keep it up though.

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