Dec. 18 Try: Cleaning House #reverb 10

Dec. 18  Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?   -Kaileen Elise

This is a mundane answer on one level, but a more serious one on another.  I want to try to organize my house.   This year, it was a real struggle for me, especially because I was off my feet for 4 months.  Right before my foot surgery, I had had a hypo manic episode, and one of the characteristic behaviors of hypo mania is frenzied cleaning.  This is not universal, but is so common as to be considered a warning sign to see your doctor.  It is also a source of jokes among those of us who find cleaning very difficult, except for these outbursts.

I was never really taught how to clean.  My mother had a cleaning lady for as long as I can remember, and she felt that teaching us housework was sexist.   Of course what was sexist was that they weren't expecting boys to do housework, not that girls had to do it.  But at any rate, it means the few cleaning skills I have are self-taught.

In addition, because bipolar illness causes brain damage to certain parts of the brain, I suffer cognitive defects in my Executive Function, which is sort of the overarching cognitive meta-structure that allows one to live an orderly and organized day to day life.  I flat out can't do this.  I also have bad impulse control.  It is connected to damage done to the frontal lobe, Phineas Gage via neurotransmitters.  Well okay, not as bad as Phineas Gage.

Anyway, I went into my foot surgery with the house cleaner than it had been in some time.  Which meant it was clean, but crammed with "stuff."  And things have deteriorated from that point.

So I have made a couple of decisions about how to approach this in the coming year:  I am going to throw being Green to the winds for a little bit, and use all the "magic sponges" and "swiffers," and wasteful but convenient things:  The easier the better.  And then, we are going to invest in some storage.  I am already measuring spaces for shelves and storage units.  We are buying shoe racks, and hangers.  We are going to make a real go of it this year.  We kind of landed in this duplex in June of 2006, when DH lost his license due to a seizure:  Where he was working at the time was a mile from this house.  Now he actually commutes to an office two blocks away from where we lived before we landed here.  But we never sat down and "organized" the place, the furniture is pretty much where we dumped it upon arrival.  And while this is technically not the smallest place we have ever lived, the smaller place was designed to maximize use of space.  And we owned less 11 years ago, of course.

So we have never really pulled this place together.  We are always soooo proud of ourselves when we do even the tiniest amount of decorating.  For instance, At Goodwill last week  I found a matching trio of colorful but muted cushions that look great against our beige-y sectional.  Oh yes, I am still "thrifting"; I am taking a break from the daily photographs of outfits while I work on this #reverb10 challenge.  

Anyway, not my most riveting entry, but I needed to start catching up!  Part of the reason I am behind is this has been a very challenging week, for all the reasons I have been discussing this month, and I now need to sleep.  So this is a bit rough, sorry for any garbled sentences.

Goodwill and cash

So I am behind in what I wore.  Also behind in what I have purchased.  This is going to be a photo dump.  But last weekend I was so busy with class, I was zonked when I got home.  This week, I had so many headaches, I didn't even dress Wednesday.  Then yesterday, I am certain I took a picture, because I keep taking them until they are almost in focus (har) and I saw the picture.  I must have deleted it by accident, but I know I will wear that outfit again, because it was easy and it matched.

Monday, I had the headache I had managed to put off during the weekend.  Saturday and Sunday, I did have to pop a couple of Imitrex, but survived.  I am wearing the "Yes on Prop 19" t shirt I bought at the bookstore at Oaksterdam U.  Awful jeans, they are going into the Goodwill bag, I think they are Target.  And suede Doc Martens MJs.

Tuesday I felt better, and of course, that meant shopping.  Goodwill this time, and I picked out a great deal of stuff for $31 and change.  My spending still sucks, because I am no longer limiting it to Goodwill, though. :(

The top is NY & Co., a turquoise empire top that is distorted by my hips.  The fabric has a kind of gather all over it, you can kind of see it.  Textured fabric is supposed to de-emphasize a lack of waist, and  I have to admit, it almost looks like I have a waist in this picture.  The skirt is Costco, and I keep almost giving it away.  But it is like a pair of jeans.  I see it hits my legs in a horrible spot, so into the Goodwill bag it goes.  The shoes are some black penny loafer mules.  The hairband was some excessive shopping I did in beauty supply store.

I got that headband in black and ivory.  It has an embossed fabric overlay, and a flower pouf-thing.  I am into flowers and pouf at the moment.  I also got a pretty claw clip (it doesn't have that butterfly hinge that is so awful), and a fuzzy ponytail holder.  Then I bought what I actually went in there for:  One of those dye wands for touching up your roots, and a waxing kit.  The wand works pretty well, but it is a little more work than I expected.  It lasts between washes, you can get it wet, but not soapy.  The waxing kit I was going to try tonight, but decided against pulling hair out of my face while I had a headache.  I still have a mask to do tonight, I am girly-girling out.  BUT, my skin has been beyond fantastic.  In fact, I haven't touched the spot zit treatment in days.

I am nervous about the waxing kit.  I have an eyebrow pencil just in case.

Okay, so Wednesday, I was punished for my profligacy (Goodwill finds are coming up).  I was so sick, it was one of the all day ones, where you basically writhe because there is no escape in any position, or with any home remedy.  So no picture.

Thursday I didn't feel great, but I had to get to the supermarket to pick up our meds, DH was about to totally run out.  You've seen that shirt before, in a variety of colors.  I wore the black one on Friday.  I look like shit in general, and those are the same awful jeans.  That is an old Target purse, and the shoes are pink and white mules, also from Target.

Yesterday, I wore new black knit pants I got Tuesday.  They are knit, but structured (they zip up the side), so they look like nice pants, not my usual knits.  The black shirt version of the pink-y shirt above, and a red Ann Taylor sweater coat (not the full length time).  It is one of my favorite pieces of clothing, although to be honest, it is over-sized.  I like how it looks though.  I wore a pair of black skimmers (how many pair of black shoes do I own?).  I wore my black hairband, and the necklace I had purchased at Eni-thing, which matched earrings I had purchased a month or so ago.

Today was an awful day.  DH had a seizure, I woke up with a vomit inducing migraine, and the gardeners were here, so Violet was shrieking all day.  After throwing up a few times, I remembered I had just gotten Imitrex shots on Thursday, so I took one of those.  I also used a very strong Indica, "Burgundy Goo," which helped me eat something, and took away another layer of pain.

I have spent the day in pajamas, although I ran out to talk to a GOTV guy.  Violet was going insane, and I said, "Violet, be nice, he's a Democrat," and he laughed.  I am voting straight Dem as always.  I used to split my vote, but no more.

So now we are going into one of my purchase lists, so hang on.  These boots are the highest heel I can wear, but the stacked heel saves me.  Ironically, I couldn't have worn them before my surgery, because my left foot was too mis-shapen.

They are definitely special occasion only.

This top is navy, and is super cute.  It can be layered, and looks really cute with jeans and boots (I have a lot of boots, at the moment):

As much as you can say I am need of a particular type of clothing, blouses are it.

I used this purse Friday night when DH and I went out to eat.

This is a really cute, compact purse, I think the boa trim is visible in this pic.  Again, more of a dress item.

I bought this lamp and lampshade separately.  The base is actually off-white, and I am still deciding whether to pain the metal part.  It is kind of incongruous, but our bed frame was jerry-rigged, we have an Eames era wrought iron bed, which is not standard size.  It has a bit of an industrial look:  We bolted it together, planning to paint the bolts black, but decided we liked the contrast.

So six items for $30 is not the best bargain I have knocked out, but the boots were over a third of that.  The lamp was $2 total.

So that is what I bought on Tuesday.

Shrunken

I thought I would try vlogging. My thumb is covering up the upper left hand corner, but overall, it was coherent (I know now to speak more clearly). I couldn't get the thumbnail to work, although of course I got the thumbnail to work for the failed first attempt.

So here goes!

Shopping and eating.

I had a very bad night's sleep last night. In fact, I went to bed at 2pm this afternoon, and woke up about 4 hours later. Now my head is killing me. I am worried that my mood and headaches are tugging each other along, but see my shrink on the 19th, and I am not in crisis.

So while I do plan to get back to my Lush life posts, I did sort of want to make an effort to chronicle what I wear. Both as an exercise in persistence, and maybe to help me learn how to "see" myself in clothes. So these are not examples of any real fashion sense, although it would be interesting if I could use a blog to develop one.

I forgot to mention that Thursday, I bit the bullet, and bought some Wacoal bras. Sure, they look like they could shield my tits from heavy ordinance, but they are COMFORTABLE! And for that much money, they damn well fucking better be. I just bought two, figuring I would get sized at the Famous Lingerie shop, and then order them from less expensive places. Well, I cannot find anyplace that sells them for less (in fact, even the few dollar difference in the styles I got are matched). Going to Nordstroms to get fitted for the bras was what gave me the excuse to bop over to Lush again, by the by.

Saturday, we hung out at home. in the early afternoon, I decided to hit the Goodwill on De Anza. I actually wore the blue capris again, because they were good for one more wear, and I didn't want to wear them somewhere nice. I also wore a slightly rumpled Nine West black tunic, with embossing down the arms and front, and a lace up neck. I didn't feel I needed to look my very freshest for staff of Goodwill. I'm a bitch, but I am also one of the better dressed customers.



Oh, why do I attract sad, lonely, little old ladies? I say something polite to them, and suddenly it as if I have found a stray. I don't want to discourage them from talking to me, I understand why they do it. But I don't know what to say. I guess by just talking, that is enough. I usually can think of a reason to break things off eventually.

At the De Anza Goodwill, I got some Coldwater Creek straight leg jeans (a brand cut well for me), a really cute makeup box (to be displayed on a post soon). Also, some very minimialist gladiator sandals, and a really cute pair of autumnal earrings:





we decided to go out for dinner at Yuki Sushi. This is a lovely Japanese restaurant two miles away, which serves fusion rolls for our gaijin palates, but is always crammed with native Japanese families. I think this was the 4th time we have been there in a year, which is a lot for us. So I wore my new Coldwater Creek jeans, and the black version of the Nine West tunic (I tend to buy shirts I like in more than one color). I wore my "gypsy" necklace, which has brass stars and coins, and my new earrings. Also, my minimalist gladiators.

Another item I have really fallen in love with lately are kanzashi, which are japanese hair ornaments of stiffly starched and folded fabric: Here are one of each pair of mine, and I do plan to get a pair or two more from where I bought these, at Eni-thing:

So I felt very pulled together on Saturday, freshly showered, hair as "done" as I do it. I even wore foundation and eye makeup. We had really great sushi. And by the time I got home, I had a migraine. UUGGHH!

So that pretty much took care of Sunday.

It is very late Wednesday, and I would like to try to work on going to bed. I still have to tell you about what I wore Monday and Tuesday, and my failure to engage at the Goodwill in Santa Clara Tuesday.

As I said, the bad news is I am not sleeping. Although I only slept 4 hours after being awake for 24, 10 hours has passed since I woke, and I am not tired.

Well, I keep raising topics for new posts. If I continue to do this, I am going to have to write blog task lists. Still, better to have too much to write about, than not enough.

I will leave you with my jammies. It has cooled off here quite abruptly.