stuff done: Sunday-Thursday
1. I did not go to church on Sunday, since it was either a Sci-fi Sunday (alternate joint program for high school and middle school kids, runs the first Sunday of each month) or an improv/drama session, and in either case I wasn't needed to facilitate anything. Also I was very tired, so I slept in. Then in the afternoon, I took a nap. Sleep is delicious. :)
2. Changed linens.
3. Thawed and cooked some more tilapia fillets.
4. Bought fancy bread at CTB, to go with the fish.
5. Vacuumed all the carpeted areas of my apartment. Decided to dust-mop the wood and tile areas on another day.
6. Photographed my peppers, which have started to sprout this week! \o/
7. Bought squash seeds, which I will probably plant next weekend.
8. Changed the wax in my wax melter. The new wax was another of the kinds my parents bought me as an ancillary Christmas present, and as before, I do not recommend it. The Glade scent was obtrusively artificial -- it just smelled off in a way that's hard to put my finger on. This brand -- ScentSationals Scented Wax Cubes -- smells less off-putting... but the smell is impossibly strong. I could literally see volatile fumes rising from the surface of the melted wax, and it permeated the air to the point where I felt like my breaths were slowly coating the inner surfaces of my lungs with a layer of wax. I could not sleep because the scent and the wax-in-lungs sensation were so overpowering and inescapable. And this persists for hours even if the heat source is removed from the wax after only thirty minutes!
Despite this, the scent wears out very quickly. I had to dispose of the new wax on Wednesday because it had lost its advertised scent and now was just filling the air with the scent of generic candle wax, while still feeling like it was coating my lungs with aerosolized wax particles.
Additionally, the wax itself is not packaged usefully. It is notionally divided into six cubes, but in practice they're all fused together into a massive lump that requires a heated knife to separate, and even then sheds annoyingly sticky wax flakes all over one's work area.
In short, I actively disrecommend ScentSationals brand wax melts. I have thrown out the unused portions of the scent I tested, and have tossed the unopened other scent into my box of assorted random donations for my church's annual recycling sale.
(For the record, wax melts I have had good experiences with are Yankee Candle, Woodwick, and (tentative initial assessment) Chesapeake Bay Candle Home Scents.)
9. Took kitchen compost to the backyard bin, on Monday and again on Wednesday.
10. Ran the dust-mop over the bare wood and tile floor areas in my apartment. I did not bother to wash the mop afterward; I just combed the worst of the gunk into the kitchen wastebasket. I will probably have to wash the mop after its next use, just as I will have to actually wash the vacuum cleaner's internal parts.
11. Sent Vicky her gift story outline for review and approval/corrections. She likes it. \o/
12. Sent Susan her gift story outline for review and approval/corrections. She was unhappy with one element and requested a minor emphasis shift. Unfortunately the element in question is sort of integral to events and relationships in the actual Sunbright and Shadowfall novel (tentative title: The Coming of the Queen?) so it's back to the drawing board for me. I sent her some potential other ideas (much less detailed) and am waiting for her to tell me which sounds most promising.
13. Made some editing progress on "Second Chances." What I'm working on right now is improving the foreshadowing for various events. When that's done, I need to focus on the climax and conclusion, because those are the parts that are most rushed and least detailed, and also I totally forgot Ray's sister which is annoying since both Foggy and Karen should at least think in passing about her reaction to the whole disaster.
14. Rescheduled my blood donation appointment AGAIN. *headdesk* I was a little iffy about it in general, since my not!cold got worse over the weekend (because that is how cons work) and I'd been using NyQuil to help me sleep (though that was also partly to knock me out despite the gross wax-in-lungs feeling from the ScentSationals wax melt), but I thought I was getting better. Unfortunately I had some digestive issues this afternoon and figured I had better cancel in case they were symptoms from a bug going around town rather than just my lunch disagreeing with me. :(
This time at least I was able to reschedule for only a week in the future, rather than two or three weeks away, and in a location that's very easy for me to get to rather than one that requires a bus ride and some finagling. We shall see if the... what, sixth time? Anyway, maybe I will finally win and get to feel like a healthy person making a small difference in the world.
15. Bought a few groceries.
16. Stewardship committee meeting. We divvied up the phone lists, so I will be trying to call a bunch of people about pledges -- probably on Saturday, if Miss Cactus doesn't mind me vanishing to the back room for a couple hours. We also did some more planning work for our Yay Pledging!!! dinner party next Saturday.
17. Relatedly, I got a pledge card, made my own pledge, wrote a check to cover it (since I have the funds right now -- thank you, federal tax refund!), put both pledge card and check into a pre-addressed envelope, and have pinned them to my mailbox for the carrier to pick up tomorrow. I feel so productive and community-oriented. :)
And now, I think, to bed.
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2. Changed linens.
3. Thawed and cooked some more tilapia fillets.
4. Bought fancy bread at CTB, to go with the fish.
5. Vacuumed all the carpeted areas of my apartment. Decided to dust-mop the wood and tile areas on another day.
6. Photographed my peppers, which have started to sprout this week! \o/
7. Bought squash seeds, which I will probably plant next weekend.
8. Changed the wax in my wax melter. The new wax was another of the kinds my parents bought me as an ancillary Christmas present, and as before, I do not recommend it. The Glade scent was obtrusively artificial -- it just smelled off in a way that's hard to put my finger on. This brand -- ScentSationals Scented Wax Cubes -- smells less off-putting... but the smell is impossibly strong. I could literally see volatile fumes rising from the surface of the melted wax, and it permeated the air to the point where I felt like my breaths were slowly coating the inner surfaces of my lungs with a layer of wax. I could not sleep because the scent and the wax-in-lungs sensation were so overpowering and inescapable. And this persists for hours even if the heat source is removed from the wax after only thirty minutes!
Despite this, the scent wears out very quickly. I had to dispose of the new wax on Wednesday because it had lost its advertised scent and now was just filling the air with the scent of generic candle wax, while still feeling like it was coating my lungs with aerosolized wax particles.
Additionally, the wax itself is not packaged usefully. It is notionally divided into six cubes, but in practice they're all fused together into a massive lump that requires a heated knife to separate, and even then sheds annoyingly sticky wax flakes all over one's work area.
In short, I actively disrecommend ScentSationals brand wax melts. I have thrown out the unused portions of the scent I tested, and have tossed the unopened other scent into my box of assorted random donations for my church's annual recycling sale.
(For the record, wax melts I have had good experiences with are Yankee Candle, Woodwick, and (tentative initial assessment) Chesapeake Bay Candle Home Scents.)
9. Took kitchen compost to the backyard bin, on Monday and again on Wednesday.
10. Ran the dust-mop over the bare wood and tile floor areas in my apartment. I did not bother to wash the mop afterward; I just combed the worst of the gunk into the kitchen wastebasket. I will probably have to wash the mop after its next use, just as I will have to actually wash the vacuum cleaner's internal parts.
11. Sent Vicky her gift story outline for review and approval/corrections. She likes it. \o/
12. Sent Susan her gift story outline for review and approval/corrections. She was unhappy with one element and requested a minor emphasis shift. Unfortunately the element in question is sort of integral to events and relationships in the actual Sunbright and Shadowfall novel (tentative title: The Coming of the Queen?) so it's back to the drawing board for me. I sent her some potential other ideas (much less detailed) and am waiting for her to tell me which sounds most promising.
13. Made some editing progress on "Second Chances." What I'm working on right now is improving the foreshadowing for various events. When that's done, I need to focus on the climax and conclusion, because those are the parts that are most rushed and least detailed, and also I totally forgot Ray's sister which is annoying since both Foggy and Karen should at least think in passing about her reaction to the whole disaster.
14. Rescheduled my blood donation appointment AGAIN. *headdesk* I was a little iffy about it in general, since my not!cold got worse over the weekend (because that is how cons work) and I'd been using NyQuil to help me sleep (though that was also partly to knock me out despite the gross wax-in-lungs feeling from the ScentSationals wax melt), but I thought I was getting better. Unfortunately I had some digestive issues this afternoon and figured I had better cancel in case they were symptoms from a bug going around town rather than just my lunch disagreeing with me. :(
This time at least I was able to reschedule for only a week in the future, rather than two or three weeks away, and in a location that's very easy for me to get to rather than one that requires a bus ride and some finagling. We shall see if the... what, sixth time? Anyway, maybe I will finally win and get to feel like a healthy person making a small difference in the world.
15. Bought a few groceries.
16. Stewardship committee meeting. We divvied up the phone lists, so I will be trying to call a bunch of people about pledges -- probably on Saturday, if Miss Cactus doesn't mind me vanishing to the back room for a couple hours. We also did some more planning work for our Yay Pledging!!! dinner party next Saturday.
17. Relatedly, I got a pledge card, made my own pledge, wrote a check to cover it (since I have the funds right now -- thank you, federal tax refund!), put both pledge card and check into a pre-addressed envelope, and have pinned them to my mailbox for the carrier to pick up tomorrow. I feel so productive and community-oriented. :)
And now, I think, to bed.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)