Heatwave Broke. Getting Busy.

We have had several days now with temps in the low to mid 80s.  So nice.  Those high 90s really whipped me.

The crocheted diaper bag I began in November is nearly finished.  I thought earlier today that maybe the crocheting was finished but after inserting the ribbon drawstring just now and pulling it closed I decided the pink rim on the top ruffle is too narrow.  I like the way it looks when it isn't pulled into a pucker that sucks the pink edge inside.  So I think I will be adding one to three more rows of the two chain mesh around the rim.

I'd hoped to get another shot of the bag with the brown section tucked inside like a lining but the batteries died.  Might as well wait on that until I get the strap handles attached anyway.

I did not follow a pattern for this.  I pretty much made it up as I went.  So before I put it in the mail I want to reverse engineer it so I can write up a pattern.

Boy or boy getting that picture for tonight's post was an adventure I hope not to repeat any time soon.

I thought I would be able to set up for the pic, snap it, transfer to my computer, manipulate in the ap and upload to the blog in under half an hour.  I've done it in under 20 minutes before.

But one thing after another went wrong.  First when I stuffed stuff inside the bag so it would stand up, I made it top heavy and it wouldn't stand up.  In fact it tipped over spilling the pink thread ball out twice which I had to chase down and rewind.  Once it went behind the printer and the shelves below it and came out under the mini-tramp.  Another time it was the reel of ribbon that slipped out of my hand and rolled under the desk.

Then I couldn't find the bodkin I needed to make threading the ribbon a breeze and spent several minutes searched for it until I remembered that the last time I used it was in the car on the trip home last month when I threaded ribbon onto 52 bookmarks that my sister and one of her friends were buying.  So I soon found the kit I'd prepared for doing that project in the car and it was still in there.

The last indignity the whole process imposed on me was the low batteries in my camera and I had to hunt down the charger holding the other set of rechargeable batteries.  I got two pictures out of that set before they croaked as well.  If I remember right the last time I switched batteries was the day I was leaving Mom's so I was unable to plug the charger in and then hadn't thought about it again.

The charger was still in the box of electronics that went to Mom's with me that I've not yet put away.  The box did not travel I just used it to collect all the items related to the computer and the discman as I unpacked the bags that did travel.  It is a low lidless box more like a tray than a box and it fits nicely under the mini-tramp beside my desk chair so everything has been easy to get to when I needed them.  But that rendered the mini-tramp unusable or at least not usable on an impulse so I moved the box over by the closet last week.

The heatwave slowed my unpacking, sorting and and organizing projects but I've stated in on them again in the last couple of days. The heatwave broke a few days ago and I've slowly started adding activity into my days.  Steady as she goes.  A few minutes activity every hour or twenty minutes or more after two hours of sitting still.  The first project was the kitchen.

A couple of days ago I finally got my HABA box and bags from the trip unpacked and started in on sorting the drawers and bags still left from the move in December.  HABA aka Health and Beauty Aids.  A term we toss around here ever since my husband worked as a janitor in a department store where they used that term for that section of the store.

Today I gathered into one place and prepared for use all of my exercise equipment--mini-tramp, big ball, leg weights, stretchy bands and tubing.  It is one of my goals for ROW80 to get more active and making the items I need more accessible will make it easier to do that.  Especially on impulse.

I even figured out a setup in which I can watch videos on my netbook while I'm on the mini-tramp.  The same setup coincidentally works as a standing desk which is a concept I've wanted to try for awhile as I've read interesting things about its benefits.

I also stripped the bed and gathered up all of the laundry from the bedroom and bathroom floors into one place.  Still need to sort it into loads.  Then will have to decide if I'm going to the laundrymat over by the pool or asking my MIL if I can come use her machines.

And I got a start on organizing the closet in the bedroom.  I'm still keeping my clothes in the same duffle I took to Mom's and the hanging clothes that went with me are still wrapped in the bag and jacket that projected them for travel.  One of the things besides the heat that contributed to this procrastination was the lack of light in the room. I used to be able to count on a couple of hours in the morning when the sun lit up the room but that was last winter before our shade tree leafed out.  So today I took the 3 way floor lamp with a high of 300w from the living room and set it up in the bedroom.  I hope to plug away at that task over the next several days.

But the kitchen must take priority tomorrow as I let it slide again after getting it all spruce the other day.