Things I've learned today:

1. It's worth spending an extra $5 to buy a mop that doesn't suck ass. Oh my god is our new mop better than our old one! I can wring it out. I can get around corners. The floor is clean but not soaking wet. I love you new mop!

2 I learned how to darn socks! Sort of!

A month or two ago I noticed that one of my pink socks, the very first pair of socks that I knit (the only pair I've finished thus far, although that will change soon) had a hole. Not able to throw them away, I set them aside for a bit. And today, armed with many printouts of online darning instructions, I gave it a go.

So far as I can tell, there is a pretty but difficult way of darning socks, and an ugly but easy way of darning socks. After a go at the former, I gave up at went for the latter. And it worked! It looks like crap, but it worked! As it feels fine on my foot, and seems to be holding the hole from expanding, I'm considering it a success.

The young people of the neighborhood have all decided that the cool place to hang out today is the unpaved alley behind my house.

Young people, I am all good with you hanging out back there. You seem like nice kids. I don't really mind the constant chatter. But for god's sake, stop hanging out with the kids that shriek. They sound like happy shrieks, but still. Please stop shrieking. Please

Back to comics!

So. I used to do a lot of comics. And I'd like to again. I'm working on one that I've been playing with on and off for years now, about a fishperson (mermaid seems like the wrong term, considering it's a more fish like affair, and not all stars and sparkley goo-goo) (not that there is anything wrong with stars and sparkley goo-goo, it just isn't my style).

But I'd also like to do auto-bio comics again. Except I sometimes feel like I'm not interesting enough. Which is how I suspect is how most people feel, but still. That said, I'm still going to give it a go.

Bathroom Fun!

The cold continues, although it is starting to fade a bit. I don't feel nearly so much like crap, but I'm sneezing constantly. I've been using old dish towels to wipe my nose, as I'm finding it helps avoid the horrible nostril chaffing that tissue leaves. Then I'm washing the towels, because I'm not gross.

Today was also fun because the toilet decided for no particular reason to overflow all over the place. Right as Charlie was about to get in the shower before heading into work for a few hours. Right as I was starting to make lunch. Charlie called me into the bathroom to help. It was then that we realized that we did not own a plunger. Because we rock. So Charlie went off to buy a plunger, I made lunch, he fixed the toilet, took his shower, we ate lunch and he went off to work. I got to mop the floor (and I am buying a new mop the next time I am at the store, because our mop sucks), wash the towels that we used to soak up the overflow, and wash approximately seven hundred million dishes. Which was fun. That said, I'm all appreciative that Charlie is the one going into an office on Saturday instead of me. I'd much rather deal with our messy household stuff.

All toilet mishaps aside, it's actually been a good day. In the mail today we got an Amazon gift certificate, a paycheck for me, and a suprisingly large amount of money back from the DMV for overpayment of fees. So that was pretty cool.

Also, we learned yesterday that Charlie is allergic to dustmites and cats, but not dogs. As in, Smee is not the problem. Somehow, this makes me feel vindicated.

French cartoons!

I am currently keeping myself entertained with this site, which I discovered via Drawn. The site is entirely in French (I think you can actually get parts of it in English, but it doesn't really matter for my purposes), and has several animated shorts.

I am needing to keep myself entertained because I am full of snot. Very full of snot. Although it is all in my head, not my lungs, which if you are familiar with the way I tend to get colds, is unusual.

I've also been doing a lot of painting and drawing this week. Charlie and I decided that since he's got a well paid job now, it would be alright if I worked on my own art at home until my internship making stop-motion puppets starts. Because while I am very good at temp work, especially reception work, it was causing me massive anxiety. That said, I'm actually glad to still have the option of temp work open to me in the future. If finances make it necessary, I can do it. It's just that right now, since I don't have to temp, I'm going to work on my own art while I have the time.

And yeah! The internship! I'm going to be working in Puppetry department of a stop-motion animation company. A million thanks to Pete, who helped me get this position. It isn't a paying gig, but it's a foot in the door for doing something that will be fulfilling. I think this may lead me on a career path that I'll actually be excited about and engaged in.