Call me Procrastinator...

I have two tasks I would like to get done before the Great Holiday Visit:  1) To hem and put up the new shower curtain liners (my current ones are moldy) and 2) run the carpet shampoo-er.  The latter might be too heavy for me and I am not sure how to proceed.  But the former I can do.  Only I am still not a seamstress.

Because the circular rod for my antique tub was hung too low, all shower curtain liners end up on the bottom of the tub.  Last time, I simply lopped them off.  But these flap in the steam and stick to your body (rather annoying) without the magnets on the bottom.  So, I want to fold up the liners and then sew that fold flat.  Ideally, I want  to stick some magnets in that fold so that they can stick to the top of the sides of the tub and, thus, have more of a chance for flat liners and a lack of flapping about.

The real problem is that the ring is too small for the tub and, thus, the shower curtains are too close to the person in the tub.  But replacing one of those rings appears prohibitively expensive, because they are all of a piece with the faucet, riser, and shower head.  Really, really, really uneconomical.

I have thought and thought and thought about shortening the shower curtain liners, but have not progressed past thought.  I was fully prepared, today, to open the deacon's bench and pull out the sewing machine (using only my right arm).  However, I never made it that far.  I am still very, very, very intimidated by the thought of using the sewing machine.  SIGH.

I did drag myself up to the attic to fetch the few decorations I kept in my downsizing.  Walking those stairs is hard, because it is the second set of stairs in a short distance.  But it is also hard because they are in dire need of cleaning.  As in I have not cleaned them in four years.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit that they are littered with dead flies ... the foolish flies who came down my attic vents and couldn't figure out how to fly back out, perishing in the summer heat.

I ended up carrying back half the box's contents because I just didn't want to "crowd" my rather visually restful house.  I am not sure if it is because I spend the holidays alone or because I am single or because I am simply a wallflower hermit, but decorating is not all that exciting for me ... which ... makes me feel ever more the alien ... like something is wrong with me.

I put out a few things and hung the glass icicles on the Christmas tree.  I had forgotten that I had a set of a dozen (11, actually because one is broken) spun glass ornaments, so I hung those two.  My favorite is a nativity scene because I am in awe that someone could make it out of glass, stable and all.  I also have a gold, wire mesh star that I have kept for the "one day" I ever had a tree.  Until I opened my box, I had forgotten that I owned one.  So, I am thinking that my tree is pretty well adorned now, save for a tree skirt.  Yes, I hunger for a beautiful, old-fashioned tree skirt.  Silly Myrtle.

Today, I also set out to Google alarm companies again.

I am a bit bothered that Firewood Man was able to both seal the gutters and take down an entire tree without me hearing him.  And I sleep with my windows open!  I am rather dead to the world when I do fall asleep and that doesn't seem all that safe to me.  With the two murders on my street, I am a bit ... more aware ... of the need for safety.  Well, that is not right.  After all, I put in two-sided, keyed deadbolts on all my doors.  I also added flood lights to the back porch and garage and put a light on the side of the house where the basement entrance is.  But I have not missed the alarm system I had in Alexandria as much as I have of late ... since reading of the second dead body on Kinnaird Avenue.  SIGH.

The problem with alarm companies is two-fold:  1) I do not have a land-line and 2) the cost of monitoring.  I finally found a company that has a wireless option for the price I wanted to pay:  $19.95 a month.  All the quotes I have received over the past few years have been between $34.99 and $39.99.  I wanted no more than $20.  LiveWatch is my answer.

Buying the system just now ... at this financial crisis sort of time ... does not make sense.  But being and feeling safe does.  Maybe that's it.  Maybe it is the feeling safe.  With the work I am doing in counseling and the struggles I face in the hospital, I am most decided not feeling safe.  Hmmm ... I had not made that connection until this very moment.  I suppose I should add that thought to my list of thoughts I bring each week to my sessions.

There is a $99 charge for the system I chose, a $19.95 activation fee, and the first month's monitoring.  The former cost is on my credit card.  The latter two fees will appear once I am all set up, which should be Saturday, after 5:00 when I have my technician appointment.  I will be very, very, very thankful once the house is armed.

I think, too, that part of this is thinking about how much help I need and how I need to find ways to get help when I can, which is much harder to do than it is to say.

What impressed me the most about the company was how I was treated.  The sales guy did not try to up-sale me.  He rather patiently walked me through the options and repeated the information several times for me, because I was nervous about making a commitment ... only there is no commitment because it is month-to-month.  All I would be out is the equipment, since in months 1-12, it has to be returned if you cancel.  But after month 12, you can keep it and use it with other companies.

The second guy helped me make the system configuration choices, set up overnight delivery, scheduled my technician appointment, and walked me through setting up my online account where I can make changes to my system.  He was soooooo patient, telling me what to type and where to click.  It was the easiest new experience I have had in the past few years.  More relief for me.

Ought that not to have buoyed me enough to hem the shower curtain liners?????

I have been a tad horse ... a smidgeon horse ... for a few days.  I have started to cough here and there ... just a tiny bit.  When I cough, phlegm flies into my mouth.  Again, just a bit.  But enough to bother me.  And my chest hurts a bit.  Just a tiny bit.  Right under my left shoulder blade.  I am not, however, getting sick.  I do not have access to a GP doctor until January 26th!  I can't get sick right now.

The house and auto insurance agent was supposed to be here today to take photos and give me a termination letter to sign.  However, he canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow.  In anticipation of his visit, I put on a female upper undergarment.  It hurts.  And it struck me that the reason it hurts is that the nurse must be right about the swelling taking a long time to subside.  The incision, though, is healing well.  And the bruising is getting better.  Really, I am healing far more quickly than I thought I would.  A silver lining, eh?

Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe tomorrow I will actually measure.
Maybe tomorrow I will at least get the shower curtain liners all prepped for sewing.

Maybe.