Weekend To-Do List (Blogtoberfest day 21)

A simple box of chicken broth. Looks pretty boring, huh? One would hardly consider it intimidating. Or threatening? No. And alone, of course, it isn't. But if you could see the mountain of wretchedness and chaos supporting this simple box, you would be sore afraid. 

I know I am.

Cleaning out and organizing The Pantry of Death is just one of the items on my to-do list this weekend, but it's going at the top of the list with a star. There's a lot going on, and that's one thing that I simply cannot let slide one more week. 

If I'm going to be BETTER I need to get the apartment into proper condition for creating and experimenting and feeling good. It's time to clean and organize, top to bottom. Starting with The Evil Dead Pantry.

The complete list for this weekend:

1.**** Organize the 7 Levels of Hell Pantry. Identify any organizational items needed to keep it in good shape. 

2. Shop for eggs, veggies, at the Mercato.

3. Book Swap! Book swap is fun! It's good for getting rid of books and getting new books to read without spending money! Fun!

4. Clean the Kitchen

5. Vacuum. 

6. Clean out office/creative area in preparation for Get Your Paint On, which is starting Monday!

7. Grocery list

8. Grocery shopping

9. Paint the coffee table

10. Brew some beer

And that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Some people are super power houses of getting stuff done, but I, on the other hand, will be lucky to get half of this done this weekend. But I'll try!

Matt is pulling everything out of the pantry right now, in anticipation. That's his part--getting everything out so I can start fresh. He's teaching a Red Cross class tomorrow morning, so he's taking care of business right now. What a dreamboat! 

Be the Match (blogtoberfest day 20)

Ever since I started posting everywhere about how easy it is to register for the Nation Marrow Donor Program people have been asking if I personally know someone who needs a bone marrow donation right now. Fortunately, I do not.

Of course I have seen T.V. shows and read blogs featuring people with blood disorders or leukemia, I've cried with them, earnestly hoped for a match to be found. And yet it never occurred to me to join the registry.

my hair is wet, not greasy!

Am I evil? Crazy? Selfish? Maybe a little of the latter, but I honestly always assumed that I needed to go far out of my way and endure some kind of painful procedure to register as a donor. Something I would be willing to seek out if I knew someone in need, or if it were offered to me in an immediate setting, but not a process I could easily or conveniently stumble across. 

Turns out I was dead wrong. And once I realized how easy it is--they send the kit to you, and it is easier than brushing your teeth--something flipped inside me. An urgency. A "my-God-how-are-we-not-all-registered-this-could-save-and-change-lives" thing. 

So Matt and I took our cell samples and mailed them in the other morning. And Matt took pictures. Maybe I should have brushed my hair? Bah! We're informal here. 

upper right

They send you four swabs, but that's just for redundancy. The instructions say to throw out any that you might drop, etc. They don't need all four. Which is good, because I'm pretty sure I did the upper right twice, and missed at least one part on the left. Possibly? Maybe? But 2 upper right swabs is probably better than one dropped/thrown away swab, don't you think? Anyway, you have to swallow first, then swab one inner-cheek quadrant: swallow - upper right, swallow - lower right, swallow - upper left, swallow - lower left. One swab per quadrant. Approximately. Heh. 

lower right

You swab vigorously for 10 seconds, with the pressure you'd use to brush your teeth. So easy. Then just fill up the provided card with swabs (could there be a grosser word? "Swab" *shudder* Ew. I doubt it.), and mail them in.

See? Not so gross. You can barely tell the difference between the empty and full cards

So there it is. We sealed the envelopes and sent them out. Now hopefully one of us (both of us?) will be a match. Or if not, at least we've done our best. 

Also: know what's cool? Sending items through the mail marked Human Specimen. Creepy! Awesome! Just in time for Halloween.

Ewww! Cool.

So this arrived...

Sorry the picture's a little dark, but that's the cheek-swabbing kit from Be the Match that I wrote about not too long ago, to join the Registry for the National Marrow Donor Program. We've already mailed them back, but I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. 

(blogtoberfest day 18)

Here are Hamilton and I watching The X Factor together:

One of us is slightly more interested than the other. Heh, heh.

I feel conflicted. Pulled between the desire to meet and complete the challenge I accepted and post every day of October, and wanting to throw myself more fully into BYW, putting more effort and focus on developing a presenting a more identifiable, less scattered, voice and concept here. 

So that's what I'm thinking about. Good thing I can multi-task: snuggling AND thinking simultaneously. xo

No, really... (blogtoberfest day 17)

I'm starting to question the wisdom (read: gung-ho, reckless enthusiasm) of taking the Blogging Your Way course and committing to Blogtoberfest at the same time. Then again, it's so fun, it's worth it to occasionally resort to a picture and a blurb like this to make sure I hit the every day goal of Blogroberfest. So here it is. I'm laying it all out: I like beer. Specifically, local beer. This is a sticker on the wall of Toronado. Where I went with my husband this evening to enjoy Local Pint Night--when beers from local breweries are $3. I won't say it was a well-deserved break. It wasn't. But well enjoyed? Yes indeed.