Camera retrieval and four-day week
Makes me feel pretty perky today. I had a really nice weekend, the kind of November weekend I really enjoy. I like the weather in November, it tends to be a month without extremes. It was in the 40's, perfect weather for working outdoors. Which I actually did. I closed the boat house (I make it sound as if it's a really complicated task, but in reality it takes less than half an hour, if you do it the way I did this year). My relatives had shut the power off so the ice cream in the freezer was a moldy mess, but other than that there wasn't much to suffer over in the fridge. I didn't leave the b.h. very clean, but I did take the garbage home. Usually Jenica and I stuff the bedding into plastic bins, but this year I didn't feel like doing that. I hope to wash the comforters, now that I have a neat-o laundromat with King Kong-sized washers. Note to self: do that in spring.

I moved some of the wet wood into the shed, something I've been whining about for a long time. I didn't quite finish and only did a few wheelbarrows full until my back burned, but I got more than half of it done. Yesterday Ken told me it wouldn't hurt if I put even more wood in the shed. Sure, it wouldn't hurt you, but that's not really the sort of thing I'm organized enough to do. I pay attention when he suggests ways I can improve my life, though, so may attempt that. I noted that the wet wood I bought in September (and paid Bill's Boys to stack, oh Lazy Me) is slowly drying. I'll need it by the end of the winter (or maybe the middle of winter) and it won't be ready by then. Shame on me, not looking into my future needs on time. Or not having enough money to buy wood earlier.

I fixed my birdfeeder and screwed it directly into the tree this year. I put sunflower seed on the birdfeeder/platform and filled the fixed feeder. Tess noticed this right away and stood about 3 feed from the feeder, nose in the air. When I called her to come in last night she stood there, looking back and forth from me to the feeder (heaven or hell, heaven or hell). I begged, pleaded, promised Milk Bones, and finally she came in. Rat pig.

I helped Ken and Bill cut up a balsam that had broken off & fallen on the roof of Bill's camp, then helped Bill put up the extension ladder Ken chains to the front of this roof in case he needs to shovel the roof in the winter. I love extension ladders, think they are one of the coolest things ever invented. If I had a way to transport it I would buy one in a heartbeat. Or so I think. The top of the 30-foot balsam would have made a great Christmas tree and Ken must have commented on that at least 10 times. Too bad it's only early November--

I made the call I've been dreading, to someone I hope will be my plowman this winter. I hate asking people for help--really hate it, but paying someone to plow your driveway is really a necessity. He was asleep (he works night at the prison) and will call me back. I hope, hope, hope he agrees to do it. His wife was incredibly chatty, considering I've met her twice--once at the polls when she was working on Election Day. She wanted to talk for a long time--about her dog, a Shnoodle (cross between Shit-Zhu and poodle). She adores her little dog. Anyway, I steeled myself to make that call and am very proud to have done it.

I watched two films--first I watched Failure to Launch, a fluff film but starring Sarah Jessica Parker (whom I got to really like during my Sex in the City phase) and Matthew McCaunahey. Man is he sexy. Anyway, it was not a very good film but had good Eye Candy. Then I watched most of Capote, which was good but not something I particularly enjoyed. I read In cold blood when I was young and it was a very intense read for an adolescent. I was remotely interested in the story, but mostly not. The scenery is great, however, when they're in Kansas. SOOOO Midwestern.

I spent hours and hours knitting. I decided to make myself a blanket, though I sure don't need it, but I wanted to be doing something constructive while watching TV. It's slow going, but I can see some progress. This is a long-term project and certainly simple, so I'm enjoying it without worrying about getting it done. Knit, purl, knit purl endlessly. It's very pretty so far, a nice dark heather green. Won't show brown dog hairs much.

I kept my fire going all weekend, which felt great in the living room but is already a tiresome activity. Oh crap, how will I feel about it by January?

And last night, believe it or not I watched the end of a NASCAR race. I had a good friend and roommate after college who raced Formula 4 cars so I've always been semi-interested in racing. Once we went to the race track in Conn. to watch Paul Newman drive. They snuck me in by piling tires on top of me in the back seat. Ah, youth. Anyway, the race yesterday was fun to watch. Not my heroes from the past--Jackie Stewart and Peter Revson, but a whole different racing culture. My guy won. I don't think I could watch a whole race (400 laps) but I can watch it for 45 minutes or so.

And this week is a 4-day week! Hurray for Veterans! I have high hopes for myself on Friday, a long list of projects to at least get started on. At work I have two 9-5 days, which will be nice in the mornings. Nothing else going on so I'll clean and catalog. I went through a bunch of stuff from our Adirondack Collection on Friday and found some great histories of the Rogers family and the Rogers Company, which were really influential in the area during the last half of the 19th century and 1st half of the 20th century. It's way cool stuff, which I'll photocopy and distribute to my family.

My OCD is no better. It's even invading my dreams now--I had a very disturbing dream Friday night about my ex-husband. I've been dreaming about him a lot lately, which is unnerving. Other than that I'm still suffering from the same symptoms, and this morning I actually heard a voice in my head. Fortunately it wasn't telling me to do anything evil (or do anything at all, thankfully). Needless to say this is a miserable way to live. I'll work it out, though.

Today I pick up my mended camera at Best Buy (repair covered by warranty). It'll be nice to have it back, even if everything is gray and brown right now. I saw two deer in my apple trees Friday night, and they weren't particularly disturbed that I drove to them. Bill gave me a cool camera that you set up at night. It takes pictures of any movement going past it. Although at this point all it'll see will be deer, I want to set it up anyway. The dogs keep running off into the woods, barking very seriously at night. I can hear something rustling through the woods but it doesn't sound like the crashing of a deer. Who knows what it is.

And now to work.