Tuesday-10am

Bit of a late start on this freezing morning (20 F or -6 C).  Dark day.  Up too late.  The bed was warm.  You know how it is--LOL!  

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Anyways, good morning!  Leah and I have had trouble with our shared drop box.  She puts pictures in it and I never get them for some reason.  Leah's working on fixing that but, in the meantime, she emailed me her picture of Ian smiling and laughing when they got home from our voting excursion last Tuesday.    

Just as an aside...

I am curious as to why this person usually parks this far back from the sidewalk.  ??  I thought my depth perception was bad--LOL!  

Well, I did my paper testing on week #2 of the Paper Project. 

For those interested--these blank papers are, from left to right: G. Lalo Verge de France, white, 100 g; Clairefontaine Triomphe, white, 90 g; Clairefontaine GraF it, white, 90 g.  All performed beautifully, of course, and there was no bleeding or shadowing--not even with the 1.5 Parallel Pen.  

I am intimately familiar with the Clairefontaine Triomphe writing tablets because I have been using those for several years.  The paper is soooo smooth that any pen just glides effortlessly across the page.  Little longer drying time but I write with fine & extra fine nibs and do have ink-patience (and a cute rocking blotter--lol!) so it's never been an issue for me.

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The G. Lalo Verge de France (notice I spelled Rhapsody correctly this time--lol!) is very different than the rest.

G. Lalo has this softly ridged grid like a hand-laid paper.  Very fancy.  Seems very absorbent, dries quickly, and has a lot of tooth--but still has no bleed-through.  The slight bumpiness took some getting used to but, then again, I am used to the almost slippery-slick Triomphe and Rhodia writing tablets.  

Can you tell I am having a great time playing with papers--hehe!  I just got week #3 in the mail!!  Whoohoo!

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McFamily arrived last night.  (They went visiting for the weekend and bumped to Monday.)  I thought they were coming to pick up Phil...but they worked on putting more red furniture together instead.  TaDa!!  The choice was probably more than okay with Phil being as the temp was in the teens.  (How did it get this cold this fast?)

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So now the second end table is together.  (These are so cute I can hardly stand it!)    

Notice the new Contigo raspberry insulated coffee cup for T-Stands For Tuesday.  :) 

Yes, I'm trying another brand.  This one doesn't wobble...but the cover is tricky for me with my weak/bum arm.  I have to screw it on very tightly or it dribbles on me.  So if you have arthritis or any weakness in arm/wrist strength--then I wouldn't recommend this brand.  I think I'll get used to it, though, and how it is supposed to feel when closed tightly.  If I let it sit a couple minutes and tighten again before I drink I have better luck--LOL!  But it sure is pretty and holds a lot of coffee and keeps it hot for a long time.  ;)

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And finally...

drum roll, please... 

Yes!!  They got the TV stand together, too!! 

How awesome is this!!  See the hole in the back for all the cords? 

Left it wide open to air out all night because it does/did have a strong paint/lacquer smell to it...(noticed cat hair inside this morning)...but I love it!! 

At this point Ian needed to go back home and start getting ready for bedtime.  Gramma got to give him a bottle and hold him while he took a short snooze...so, once again, arms full of baby and no pics--LOL!  We need to get a video, though.  His latest thing is giving the raspberry!  Was cracking me up.  But Dagan and Leah warned me it's not as funny if he does it with a mouthful of milk or sprays you with a juicy drool raspberry--ROFL!  Good thing Gramma is washable, eh?

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Anyways, next time they come over we'll be doing the furniture switch...which involves all the mystery cords and boxes that keep Netflix and I the BFFs that we are.  ;) ;)  I'll pray for some above-freezing weather for poor Phil's move...and I do plan to tackle the scary sewing machine...soon.  Caroline got the flu and switched to Thursday, poor thing.  We are hitting single digits this week...maybe we did already?  I have matching end tables.  I plan to visit McFamily this week so Leah and I can start stamping Christmas cards.  Life may be very cold, but it's good!  That's what's happening up here in Fargo.  

Happy Tuesday!!  :):)

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"If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought."

Peace Pilgrim