November already? Falling back, with great relief.

I love this woman’s artwork. [Be sure to read her caption. I can relate!]

And any of you who have ever worked with lawyers will love this. [Should take you to the NonSequitur for Tuesday, October 27th.]

I love it that I can be completely honest and completely myself with my guy-friends. Case in point: When I got to Brother Sushi’s on Friday, he was out in the driveway, looking at something on his truck. He came up to my window and asked if I had any ideas what we should do.

I told him, “It needs to be food, and it needs to be now, and my share needs to be $10.00 or less, and my car is running, give me a moment to clear out the front seat.” All done in my best Jane Isuzu voice, which he has had five years to learn how to translate. I hopped out and got my hug, then made some room for him and off we went to Rockfish. Where we had Soup Adventures [well, at least I did] and two hours of lively conversation.

I had three meals with guys last week. That has to be some kind of a record, at least in recent decades.

Yesterday was terrific. I did not speak to a single human being until almost sunset, though I kept in contact via email and Facebook. What did I do, you ask? I began the much-postponed rearranging of my studio. When I sit here at the computer and look into my studio, this is what I see.



No, that’s not Earl all wrapped up in that bundle on the fainting couch, a/k/a the Chastity Bed. (Earl’s in the trunk, remember?) That is the rug that I hooked a few years ago, and the afghan that my Gram crocheted for me when I was newly married to the children’s father, and beneath them is a quilt that is mostly quilted, plus a whole slew of baskets and small boxes. I worked for two solid hours before taking a break, and the view from here is much improved. Here is a shot of the opposite wall.



I kept things pretty much as they were; it was so helpful to be able to photograph the arrangement before taking it apart enough to scoot the table across the room and refill it. My second long, narrow folding table is now set up in the corner, and my serger case is temporarily resting atop it.

I think the next bit will be to move the rolling cart which holds most of my scrapbooking supplies over behind the closet door [check!], which will get it off my farmhouse table and put me one step closer to rotating that table 90°, so it projects out into the room and I can set up my sewing machine and serger. I have space to plug both of them in at the switch by the door.

On the one hand, I am tempted to move Mehitabel [my dress form] and my small triangular table over into the corner at the head of the fainting couch. They would look really cool there. On the other hand, that is a south window, and it wouldn’t take long for the sun to destroy the silk veils and hip scarves with which she is wrapped [souvenirs of when I took belly dancing lessons the summer after my divorce]. Maybe I could try them behind my headboard, next to the ficus tree, or perhaps just inside the front door, where the skinny bookcase used to stand. She would cover up the botched repair job around the light switch [from when they installed my new front door] until I can find a prettier, larger light switch to cover up that mess.



Oh yeah! I’ll fluff her some other time. She got a little disheveled between the studio and the front door; hazards of working with silk.

I found boxes of stuff that needs scanning and shredding. Also another box of check blanks. And I got the table rotated in my studio and some of the storage tubs moved around. Then I went to Bueno and picked up dinner, did a load of laundry, read for an hour at Borders until the trick-or-treaters were home in bed, ran to Wal-Mart for milk and juice and fresh fruit, came home and watered my plants in Fairyland, answered a couple of emails, and went to bed. I even remembered to reset my alarm clock. It was a Mary Poppins day: practically perfect in every way.