Crossing the threshold

So, tonight, I needed help deciding which boots to wear with a new outfit. I just didn't really like either one, but they were the only options I had so I needed a second opinion. However, as you will recall, I live alone. No opinion givers here. So, I emailed my nextdoor neighbor and asked her if she could come over for a fashion consultation. And, she did! Yay! We're getting to be real friends. That's what real friends do -- late night outfit checks. (well, other stuff, too... but we'll get there)
And, in case you care -- knee high chocolate brown boots

Operation Ink Refill: Fail

Printer ink is expensive. Hyla is cheap. (Well, at least when it comes to ink.) I thought I would beat the system, take a friend's advice and refill my ink cartridges for much less than the cost to buy new ones. The refill kit I bought claims to provide enough ink for many refills so at about $20, is quite a steal. Even if it filled 8 cartridges, that's a savings of about $100, probably!
So, tonight, I set out to be industrious, practical, handy, even sleuthy. But alas, my plan was foiled. The package claims to work for over (sic) 750 printers. Apparently, my printer is #751. (Thanks, Chris. The one we swapped this one out with was probably #749, but hey, I'm not bitter.) Anyways, so I got a lot of yellow ink on my hands and in my sink... not so much stayed in the ink cartridge and then none of the plugs fit it anyways so it was a lost cause. Sigh.

Back to Staples I go tomorrow. Defeated and down $20 or so.

I win!

I just finished one of my favorite games of psychological manipulation: Housecleaning against the clock. Here's the way it works. I give myself a set amount of time to clean the apartment. In this case, it was one hour. I make a list of all the cleaning tasks I want to finish in that amount of time. And, then.... GO! I race against the clock to see how much I can get done on my list. Tonight I was very very successful because I was able to finish all of the tasks on my list. In 60 minutes, I was able to:

• gather clothes from around the house and either fold them and put them away or put them in the laundry
• Put away my shoes (sounds simple, but my floor is really just a social gathering place for all of my shoes)
• Clean the bathroom
  
• Gather trash (I would have taken it out, but the alley is a little scary at night.)
• Go through mail and straighten up kitchen counter
• Clean all of the floors in my apartment
• Run dishwasher, put away pots & pans and wash few straggling fragile glasses by hand
• Quick kitchen touch-up (stove, counters)
• Wash a load of towels

Aaahhhh! I LOVE this game. And, I totally win! Now, all I need to get done tomorrow is take the trash outside and wash sheets.
Ok, Gail, you can come visit now. :) Yay!

Two Things for Today

1. I made myself a smoothie today. All by myself. I did it without Chris. This was an important milestone. I know it sounds silly, but I was never as successful with the smoothie making as Chris. So, I decided that making smoothies could be his job. But, today, with a lack of Chris and a need for smoothie, I made it myself. And, it was good.

2. I drove to work today for the first time in 5 years (well, at least in my own car). That was very weird.