Catching up: Part 1

[dendritejungle]

Whee, holiday! *runs around high-fiving everyone*

You know, a year ago this weekend I was fresh off my first fortnight of Bugpocalypse. Everything I owned was either in storage or in plastic bags, my place was practically unlivable in part thanks to the ten tons of Raid I had sprayed everywhere so my cat and i had retreated ("strategically relocated") to my parents' place, and I was staring down the barrel of an infestation with no end in sight. Now, a year later, I'm sitting on my new couch in front of my wonderful, beloved television in my freshly so-close-to-done-I-can-feel-it renovated condo, slowly moving things back in and looking forward to a fall of courses to learn ALL THE THINGS (sewing! woodworking! printmaking! BOO-YEAH!) and continue to whittle down my belongings to a more manageable number.

I can't remember if I've announced this yet here, though I know I've been talking about it in person: my plan is to have my solarium completely emptied by Christmas so I can try and get a roommate. Then, by saving the extra cash, I'll have enough to afford to take a year off in two years time. My plan is to ask for a year off six months out, and if I can't return to my job so be it: I'll quit. *deep breath* So that's the PLAN; we'll have to see how it actually plays out over time. Life does have this pesky habit of changing.

So, what's been up with me lately?

• I've been continuing to love the hell out of the BBC Sherlock, and spend spare moments happily rolling around in all the fantastically well-written fic which its fandom is constantly producing. The awesome caffienekitty has initiated a series of "reccing Sundays" henceforth going on weekly at sherlockbbc for anyone just wanting to get straight to the best of the best.
• Had a lovely if INSANELY busy week when eboniorchid was in town - among other things because I had, like, three different birthday dinners with different folks. <3 (Torontonian note: Dhaba is as drool-worthy a restaurant as ever and remains by favourite Indian food in town, but I also highly recommend Enoteca Sociale for fans of Italian. Crazy rich, but sooooo good!) And that weekend - last weekend - was FanExpo: more about that later!
• I've mainlined the first season of Merlin, and will concede I can see why people like it. (Though I more want to pinch the boys' cheeks/noogie their heads than slash them. They're just so earnest and adorable! *g*)
• This past week I've finally taken the first of a few sewing classes at The Workroom to make better use of the sewing machine themoderatrix so kindly gifted me with many years ago. I'm quite excited, actually: I don't like wanting to do things but not knowing HOW, so I'm really looking forward to tackling a few in-house projects. *rubs hands gleefully*

In other news, I realized I'd carefully uploaded all these pictures a few weeks ago of my June and July and never posted them. So, with no further ado, have a general picspam of June/July:



A fond farewell to this sofa. We've had this basically since I was born, and it's served our family well for some 35 years from fort-building (as Alex demonstrates here) to guest couch/bed and finally the only bedbug-proof-able couch in creation, but it's time to let it go. It's gone to a happy home with five (!!!) cats.


Alex showing off the new sofa...


...that even has extra storage! *squeals excitedly*


Sorting ALL THE THINGS to get rid of one third. With Alex "helping", natch. All my clothes now actually fit into one closet, yaaay! \o/


Alex luxuriating in the space where my table used to be. I got rid of the old glass one and have a new, smaller one with extendible leaves instead. Less exciting, but much more practical.


MY NEW BELOVED TV HOMG. *adores*


The new bathroom seeing some good use, here with my plants to spray them in my ongoing battle against spider mites. :P


Speaking of plants, I was surprised and amused to discover some rather adorable little mushrooms nestled in next to my chives one morning.




And speaking of mushrooms (see what I did there?) I had to share some of the wonderful giant vinyl inflatable mushrooms that were at Queen's Park during Luminato. LOVE.




This was one of those bouncy-castle things with a 20ft high starry ceiling inside.


A couple of Pride pics: one of my favourite booths just for the title alone (the top bit says "Toronto Cat Rescue")...


...and my least-blurry shot of Cyndi Lauper performing on Saturday night.


A lousy photo of a neat, crowd-free way to see Canada Day fireworks: from the Panorama restaurant at the top of the Manulife Centre. Definitely worth a repeat next year!


And finally, I stumbled across this in a store and laughed so loudly at this random juxtaposition I got several curious stares. Here's a larger version. It's all women: most young, and one REALLY REALLY REALLY OLD. AHAHAHAHA!

Next up, later summer pics including FanExpo review and then some then-and-now (well, in progress) pics of my place.

Comments

[spiraldurga.livejournal.com]

Yay for decluttering! Have you become addicted yet? (When I get rid of things, I find I want to get rid of *more* things...)

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

Actually, yes!

My biggest roadblock is scheduling: I love the idea, but the major problem is turning out to be finding the time. :P