August 30, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

Okay.  Another lesson for me not to assume.  I thought I had figured out how to be able to cut or tear the big sheets in half the way GA suggested in the drawers I thought were the largest in the living room.  Was very excited, even though it meant losing a strip of paper off of them.  It would work, right?  You know how over the moon I was!

A couple of days later when I was really tired and dosing off during the day...I kept seeing this dresser.  

The wide one under the die-cutting table that I have always used for art supplies.  Too small.  But I kept getting that dresser in my head.  So annoying.  It's obviously too small.  

Now this is something that has gone on different times in my life.  It's like I am having an argument with GA in my head.  Hard to explain.  But back when I was going to be on the street when I became disabled...long story but he bugged me over and over again with "West Winds" in my head.  No--their ad doesn't even have one bedrooms and I couldn't afford a two bedroom.  No way.  Finally it got to "Call Them"!  I did and they only had three one bedrooms so they didn't even advertise them in the paper but they were going to have one open because somebody had just been evicted.  And that is how I got into West Winds about 22 years ago.  

Anyways, Finally the dresser debate got to "Measure It"!  I reluctantly went in and measured the inside of those skinny drawers.  OMG!  16 3/4 by 23 1/2!!  A half sheet of 15 X 22 would fit just perfectly--with room to spare!  And there are six skinny drawers!  I could just about imagine him palm plant to the forehead saying "Finally"!  That was where he meant the papers would fit.  Never a-s-s-u-m-e, right?  

I felt very foolish (carrying around these unweildly huge boxes for a couple of decades never even thinking about cutting them in half)...and so very grateful.  I have always wanted a set of paper drawers and have looked at them for decades.  But they are huge because they are for the full sheets and super expensive.  Little did I know I bought a set of drawers that are perfect for half-sheets many years ago!  Duh!  

Now I was even more excited!  Told Leah we can just tear or cut them in half after all.  (They are used to GA things happening--as is anyone who has known me for a long time.)  

So, I needed to finish the project I had started with the ink pads...

...and the inkpad refill bottles.  They have all found new homes.

I finioshed cleaning the three Prefonte fountain pens...

...filled them and they are with the rest of the Prefontes in the FP trays.

Then I started emptying my new half-sheet paper drawers--lol!  

Moved all the tins and boxes from the top two drawers out on to the kitchen table.

I was trying to just fill the empty containers that were already on the shelves like the Clutterbug talked about.  It got a bit chaotic, but I got the two drawers emptied and into containers.

Trouble is...I ran out of the smaller containers.  Was wasting a lot of space, but I just used what I had for now.  Come September I will be ordering more containers.  They all need their forever homes, too--lol!

Allie likes it when I am busy...but not for so long that she can't get her laptime--lol!

Once I had them all in containers I drug them all out in sections to make index card labels I can put in each one.  .

I put the brand, name of the item, and any qualitities they have.  Made a point of tracking down whether they were water soluable or water resistent.  Many of them have been in other containers for years so I had to find the information online.  Took longer than expected.  Worked on it for a couple of days...but I finally put them back.  

All the water soluable supplies are in the left bookcase and the water resistent in the right one.  When the new containers arrive (hopefully this week sometime) I will downsize all the containers I can so they'll take up less room.  Plus I need larger containers for a ton of other types of supplies--lol!

That's why this weekend I asked Dagan and Leah to search through boxes in the storage room to find the ones with the empty satchels in them.  Leah is also going to cut my hair and Dagan is going to empty the litter box and clean it out with the hose outside.  I usually do that in the fall every year.  Dagan might clean out Blink's litter boxes, too.

Since we are all kind of on the mend (except Dagan who never got this) there's not anything bigger than that planned for the weekend for Dagan and Leah.  (As you probably have noticed they usually do things with my apartment on Sundays.)  

I am feeling better little by little.  Going to be a busier month in September as far as appointments go.  Labs, pre-op physical, virtual appointments, eye surgery and followups on that.  I also hope to continue to feel better so that I can get a lot done in the studio.  Well, the eye surgery will set me back mid-month...but besides that.

Allie on her cat couch soaking up the rays.  How did she ever live without it?   

The boys started school on Thursday.  Ian is now in Middle School--which is still Junior High to me.  He came down that night after dinner to show me his new schedule for the first quarter and tell me about the differences.  We watched some more Beaver, too.  We always enjoy that.  In fact he was excited to set it up on the TV for us.  He stayed until after 8:30...but bedtime is back to 9pm on school nights.  Mama texted us to remind us--lol!

I am very happy to not be coughing as much and to gradually be feeling better.  It's like this (could have been bronchitis) was slow to progress but it is now just as slowly retreating.  Feels so good to be back plugging away in the studio organizing and sorting.  Baby steps can work wonders for my spirits--lol!

Oh, I almosr forgot--Wild Card!

Goodness!  Never know what you are going to get with these--lol!  Well, honestly...I don't think about it much at all.  Yet I am very aware of it.  Had a few close calls even in my childhood.  A few more in my yonger days.  Having Dagan and told he would die soon.  Getting cancer, being allergic to chemo, going on immunotherapy to keep me alive for a year or two...well, it's always been around, I guess.  But I do not dwell on it at all.  I know this to be true.  I have had practice--lol!  

For as long as I can remember I have always tried to live my life like each day could be my last.  If you do your best to be as good a human being as you can muster, to be kind as you can be, to learn from your mistakes, and to try to make ammends when you do screw up...then I figure you're as ready as you will ever be on any given day.  I know I could have done better at times but as the messed up human being that I am I have done the best I could so far.  If I keep my soul in mind and try to stay on a decent path...I don't have to think about death.  It will come when it comes.  I suspect it usually feels like a surprise...even if you know it is near.  ;)

On that cheerful note--lol!  Best to you and yours.  Hug your loved ones--two or four footed--in person or virtually.  Be kind--in person or virtually.  Till next week...  :) :)