A Little Behind

I'm doing some cyberspace cleaning. I have lots of things I've bookmarked that I'm slowly getting to. Like this nice award Mich gave to me. Back in AUGUST!



"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world."

Aw, isn't that sweet?

So I in turn nominate
Jeanne
Diana
Sabrina
Elaina
I'd nominate Mike but I think the whole pink and flowery thing is too girly.

And feel free to take up to three months to accept your award. Just like me.

Wordless Wednesday

Me Multiplied



I took this picture at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day. Turned out rather interesting.

Warning: Sitting Can Be Dangerous to Your Health

I found this interesting article via the Thinklings.

Given that those of us who are writers sit a lot in front of our computers, this study should cause us to do some thinking. I know for me, I have a lot of back and neck pain from being in front of the computer, and I have to take frequent breaks and work out with weights and do yoga to counteract the effects of sitting and computer use (I've been bad about doing it lately and paying the price).

And of course many of us through talking have shared how we've gotten out of shape and gained weight when we've taken office jobs.

But this article takes it to another level, seeming to imply from the study that sitting can contribute to the disease process. This is interesting, and not far fetched when you realize the body uses a combination of gravity and muscle contraction to move blood, oxygen, and waste throughout the body and so movement would facilitate all of that.

Now one thing the article didn't address was sitting on an exercise ball, which I often do when I'm working on the computer. That necessitates movement and muscle contraction and I think would be better than sitting in a chair. Whether it's as good as movement, who knows?

I also thought the article was in many ways encouraging. For me, I need to think of ways to stand more during the day. That shouldn't be too hard once it becomes more of a habit. Certainly easier than trying to figure out how to add more workout hours in my day.

And I can relabel housecleaning "exercise."

Video for Writers

This is a funny video I found about writers on Terry Whalin's blog. Makes typewriters seem so romantic.

Turkey in the Snow

On Thanksgiving Day even.

And, by the way, the kids got to see their first snow and they were enthralled.

I got to drive in it. I was less enthralled.

Another Installment in Home Remodeling on a Budget

When we moved to Indiana, we downsized by over 50%, which meant giving up my office. And the bedrooms were too small for me to put my computer desk in. And you saw in yesterday's Tackle it Tuesday what happened to the small secretary's desk in my room. I tried to use it for my computer but the height was wrong and it hurt my wrists. Which meant I was relegated to the living room.

But that ended up driving me crazy. The chair, while comfortable, wasn't great for my back and I needed a space of my own. I was contemplating the garage for awhile but it was either too hot or too cold, and frankly too dark and dreary.

As with most houses, especially older ones, there are spaces that make no sense. For example, the one bathroom in our house has two doors. One goes to the laundry room. I don't know why. There's another perfectly good access point to the laundry room. So this second door to the laundry room has a shallow closet with a door but no rod or shelves. While my cat was alive, it was her room. Once she passed on to kitty heaven, I saw potential for it to be my room.

It started out looking like this. I took the closet door off the hinges and I found a quart of "oops" paint at Lowes for $3 in a nice sage green. I'm standing in the bathroom taking the picture and the laundry is just out of sight to the right.


I bought a 10" laminate shelf ($9) and braced it with some scrap wood and that became my desk surface. I had some shelves already that I trimmed to fit and added above.


I found an old curtain and hung it so I couldn't see the laundry while I was in my office. Once I brought in a bookcase, my white board, a lamp, and all my fun office stuff it looked like this.



This is the furnace which I make good use of as a magnetic board, posting pictures the kids have done for me and those inspirational magnets.


This is a close-up of the desk. I put self-stick cork tile below the shelf so I could pin up reminders and fun things. And you can see the desk top is just wide enough for my lap top. I made sure to install it at the right height for me to use comfortably.


So for $12 and a weekend's worth of work, I found a room of my own. I'm liking it very much and getting a lot more work done in my "office."

Tackle it Tuesday

I'm happy to be doing my first Tackle it Tuesday. This is the desk in my bedroom. It has become the catch-all for stuff I need to file or put somewhere else but I don't want to get lost, ruined, or messed up by the kids. But now that I have created my office out of a unusable closet (more on that later this week hopefully) and cleaned out the garage so I can get to my filing cabinets, this desk needs to be cleaned up!



And here it is clean!




I think the bedroom should be a place that's restful so it's been good to get that cleaned off. And now I can actually shut the lid like it's supposed to!

A Laugh for Thursday

If you want to had a little humor to your day, check out two of my Misfit friends. Having a wacko sense of humor is definitely a requirement to be a Misfit.

Heather's blog about the frustration of writing.

Mike's interesting interview. And don't forget to vote.

And, here's a warning. Keep your coffee or beverage of choice far from your computer when you're at these sites. Oh my.