The Thing That Goes Doink

Years ago I inherited a dresser. It's nothing spectacular, and if I had to guess it was built using leftover apple crates. I think it was made by my great-grandfather in the late thirties or early forties. And I still have no idea how I ended up with it. I do know that no matter how ratty the damn thing got my mother refused to get rid of it, so years ago my step-dad sighed and painted it before putting new pulls on it.

Of course when I moved out I got to take everything that was in my bedroom with me - including the dresser. The paint was starting to flake and one of the pulls had fallen off, so my husband asked if we could strip it, sand it down, and then repaint it. Since we repainted a bookcase a few summers back, I didn't really see an issue with that. Of course the contents of the dresser are currently strewn about guest room - mostly various cosplay pieces.

With most everything stripped and sanded down, I started repainting the drawers yesterday. I got one coat of paint on yesterday after getting done with my various other errands and tasks, and then realized that the second coat wouldn't be done by the time my husband got home from work. With his bike not having a kickstand he can't store it in the little shed our complex has for bikes, so it lives on our balcony. Which is also where we're currently trying to refinish this dresser.

Three coats of paint later the drawers are done, which means I need to finish sanding the dresser, but I need to ask my husband what parts need to be finished. I think he's got the top done, which means I just have to get the last of the paint off of the sides and then I can repaint that sucker. With summer here (finally - it's been spring since mid-March), the weather is perfect for getting all of this done. Also, I want my dresser back.

In other news, I'm going to be helping a friend at the pub at the local Scottish Fest on Saturday, so I have to wait until Monday to see the latest episode of Korra. I've never actually attended Scottish Fest before, which is kind of sad seeing as I'm of Scottish descent. (No, really. I know I talk about my Cuban heritage a lot, but I can trace my family to Clan Campbell, thank you very much, in just two generations. It also explains the ginger highlights that are in my hair naturally. I've just opted to go red all over with a little help from a bottle.) I'm going to be sitting at the entrance of the pub checking wrist bands to make sure that no underage kids get in. I imagine it'll be a drunker, if not as smelly, experience not unlike checking badges in the game rooms at Anime Expo. I'll be doing it with my friend travellyr, and I'll also get a couple of breaks where I can actually go out and check out the rest of the Fest. I want to see if I can find a scarf in my clan tartan. (Look up the Campbell tartan, it's freakin' gorgeous.)

So yesterday's apathy is gone. Thank goodness. Today I have plans, and if they don't get done today, they'll probably take the rest of the week.

First of all, I need to hunt down the oven manual and see about doing a self clean on it. It's not gross, but certain foods (particularly the ones that stay in the oven at a relatively high heat for any significant amount of time) are starting to come out with a slightly smokey flavor. When that happens, it's time to run the self-clean. And if for some reason that doesn't work, I'll pick up some oven cleaner, rubber gloves and some sponges and get to it the old fashioned way. Hell, I may still do it *after* the self clean. I also need an appliance bulb for the oven - the light went out over a year ago occasionally I'd like to be able to see what the hell is going on in the oven.

(EDIT - Upon doing a little research, it's going to take just shy of five hours for the self-cleaning cycle to do its thing. So the cleaning the oven won't happen today, and tomorrow it'll be too warm. But! Tomorrow I'll do the pre-cleaning (getting the major debris cleared out) and run the cycle on Thursday when it cools down again.)

Secondly, I need to reorganize the tupperware cupboard. I realized this as I was putting away clean tupperware yesterday and about half of it nearly cascaded to the floor. That's not good at all, so in a few minutes it will all be pulled out, sorted, and then put back in a manner resembling organization.

Third, once again I need to go through my clothes and find the stuff that won't fit or is too holey to wear anymore. If the stuff it too holey, I may look into upcycling it into quilt. As it stands, I have several anime based tees that simply don't fit, but I don't want to get rid of. I figure I'll just turn them into a quilt I'll put in the back of my car (along with the other emergency blankets, lulz), just in case I ever need it. If the stuff is in good condition but doesn't fit, I'll let my sister pick through it, take what she wants, and then the rest of it is getting trucked to Goodwill. (In all reality, this is probably a project for the rest of the week. I have a lot of shit to sort through.)

Fourth, travellyr is coming over to look at the HTPC this afternoon. It's the beastly machine, built with the sole purpose of being a home theater. She's looking to build a computer, and since my husband built the HTPC (and his own PC) we offered to let her come over and take a look at them to get an idea about them being roughly what she wants/needs. After that, she and I are going to the CREHST (Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science, and Technology) Museum to check out the new exhibit on Suffragettes in Washington, as well as allow Trav to see it for the first time. I'm also going to inquire about volunteering there. Let's face it, how many volunteers do they get who have history degrees and don't have to constantly look up the facts? I figure it would get me out of the house a few times a week, and if something should open up at the museum I could get a job where I actually use my degree. Works for me.

Finally, I have my usual cleaning. Since dinner was leftovers last night, the amount of cleaning today is what I used to make cookies last night and breakfast dishes. And making the bed takes all of five minutes anymore. Yup. Easy, easy.

If you were wondering, I think yesterday's apathy was caused by the realization that I didn't really have any big plans for this week (which I obviously changed, lol). I was working my butt off on Sheena, and when she was done I was cool with a little down time. Except I figured that I was going to take a few days off and then start in on the Christmas party dress. Well, by now you should know that there were some serious hiccups when it came to that so my plans were derailed.

So you know, I tend to be very goal oriented. I think it's why I survived college. I have a paper due on D day, so by X day I need to have research done, and by Y day I need to have the rough draft ready to be proofed. It worked. Anyway, it's not like I completely go 'round the bend when plans are derailed, but sometimes it confuses me and I don't like that. And in the case of having my plans derailed as far as sewing projects went, it resulted in me having something akin to the BSOD (that's blue screen of death, for those of you not familiar with it) where all I wanted to do was just shut down and do nothing.

After a couple of people pointed it out, I realized that I probably should get out of the house more or not allow myself to not have something to do. Not that I dislike being a homebody but every so often I just need to get the hell out and see other people. I think volunteering would help with that, as well as the occasional trip out of town. (Maybe I should go visit my godparents again?) Since I went over to visit with sideshow_ericka and her roommates yesterday, I've had some socialization beyond my husband today, and I'm planning on going to my baby brother's football game tomorrow. And yes, I'm seeing Trav today so there's more socialization!

Anyway, I've wasted about half an hour on this entry and I really should get down to business. Forward ho!

WTF is there an emergency poncho in the drawer with the appliance manuals?