For a supposed deadbeat, I can honestly say that I’ve gotten more done in the 3.5 days I’ve been unemployed than I would normally accomplish in two weeks. Maybe it’s that whole extra 9-12 hours a day thing?
Esteban has suggested that I do nothing career-wise this week, which is almost impossible, especially since some angels have reached out to me with potential leads since the riffing, and I don’t really see a reason to let them simmer. I’m updating my resume and have an appointment with an outplacement person who will tell me what I’m biffing on it, and also have the rather tenuous task of going over my work laptop with a fine-toothed comb to get all of my personal information off of it. The double-edge sword of that task is that I never bothered to buy a laptop for myself, since work kept me readily equipped with a reasonable machine and I couldn’t think of any situation where I would want a second one that I would have to fund myself on a regular basis to keep it up to speed with the world. The flaw in this logic is that if I want a laptop now, I’ll have to buy one at a time when I already lost a significant chunk of my disposable income and the non-disposable part has become an endangered species. Ah well.
My biggest thing this week has been concentrating on the disaster area that is our bedroom. It is by no means finished, but at this point, at least I wouldn’t die of shame if a non-resident of Casa Bix set eyes on the controlled chaos. After that room, I’ll be moving on to the office, most of which is cluttered due to Green Bay Minicon supplies scattered hither and fro (all of which need to be contained). Basically, my assertion that Martha Stewart could in no way perform all of the things she insists she does on her show is well-founded because sister, ain’t no way.
There has been a lot of looking on the bright side of things. For instance, Esteban noted that he just might have to find himself a job that pays more, since he kind of likes having a wife who makes homemade yeast rolls for Monday night dinner. That’s great, baby, nab yourself that $250K job and I’ll knead dough every goddamned day. Likewise, I’ve been really embracing my inner culinary goddess. I’m making everything from scratch, and lots of comfort foods out the yingyang. I had planned to replicate Portillo’s Italian Beef recipe for today, but research has shown that the beef is a two-day process (needing to cook long and slow then cool down for slicing and cook again in the Broth of Awesome before eating), so currently there is not one beef meal cooking, but also my mother’s Swiss Steak recipe (similar to this one, only with real gravy instead of a can of cream of mushroom soup), which I knew would be doable in the four hours before now and dinner, and could easily be buffed up by throwing in a few whole potatoes an hour before we eat. It’s all super easy, but it tastes yummy and costs pennies. I also have a pot of chicken stock simmering on the stove for some distant future cooking venture. And I’m going to make my own yogurt in a little bit. I know! I’m pretty much in heaven.
On the other hand, I have yet to go down the basement steps since the fall, which means that there is a mountain of (fucking) laundry down there, threatening to consume the world.Screw the Blob, man, we should be more worried about the idea of our vaguely musty socks and t-shirts gaining sentience and mobility, because those bastards absolutely have a motive to destroy us.
Last night, I was going to continue on with my plan to organize and corral my shoe collection (a bigger job than it sounds) but at the last minute, I decided not to and instead, sat on the sofa with a bottle of wine (that I didn’t really touch and that ended up getting frozen for use in pan sauces) and a wad of clay and the movie Waitress, which had the delightful pairing of pie and Nathan Fillion (should be a requirement for all movies, FYI). At the end, I felt better and had a weird sea anemone structure that took two hours to make but is the first thing I’ve made that actually pleases me. This was my first moment of stopping and relaxing since the riffing, which should probably alarm me. Am I just keeping busy to stave off the inevitable depression (which begins with “Why did they riff ME?” and ends with “OhmygodIamsofuckinguseless” and then a series of high-pitched keening noises) or am I just trying to prove to myself or the world that I can and am a very hard worker? I probably don’t want to answer that.
Because I always enjoy Mopie’s To Do Lists, here’s mine after the bump, with a few on how my thought process goes vis a vis listmaking.
Office
• Clean off desk
• Fix Printer
• Pick up floor*
• Clean off recliner
• Organize bookshelves
• Organize closet
• Closet Doors!!! (sand/paint/reinstall)
• Finish porting over old PC
• Get PC out of here
Bedroom
• Pick up garbage
• Pick up all dirty laundry
• Sock baskets
• Goodwill clothes*
• Sort clothes that should be sold
• Clean garment steamer
• Clean off dresser top (mine)
• Clean off dresser top (tall boy)
• Steam and hang curtains
• Put all books away*
• Shoe sorting*
• Refold racks
• Reorg dresser drawers
• Flip mattress
• Fix/make new bedskirt
Other House Stuff
• Pantry!
• Spice Cupboard
• Linen Closet (hall)
• The horrifying office of the man of the house (save until last)
• Clean breezeway
• Frame Amy Casey print and hang*
• Attack area by basement stairs
• Attack other side of basement stairs
• Attack general open/disorganized area
• Clean out den
• Move cat box and cat’s food/water into kitchen
• Deal with den’s light switch/outlet plates
• Wax and polish hardwood floors
Random
• Clean out car
• Valentine CDs
• Package and mail back return items
• Cancel Wine Club
• Deal with Product Anarchy Forums/Migration
• Finish playing with Dearest Mabel auto posting
• Return Kate Spade purse
• Get cedar chest from parents house
• Call About diploma
• Frame diploma
Weetacon
• Bags for charity raffle
• Referee/Judges items
• Attendee hats
• Decorations
• Program (Shawn will print/bring)
• Deal with medal situation
• Foam board
• Bus contract/revise
• Confirm with Sleigh Ride people
• Money to June for food
• Make logos
• Name tag brilliance
• Finish game plan (ha!) *
• Call Bowling Alley
Work Crap
• Make Appt with Outsourcing Person
• Clean off old computer
• Get personal items from office/clean out desk
• Bring Amy book for camera
• Cancel Corporate Credit Card
• Update resume *
• Update Linked In
• Send email to Brandon re:Shine
• Make/Order new cards (personal)
* In progress
