Followers

17 August 2011

My mother's basement . . .

is an Aladdin's cave of wonders.

Most of which were put there by me.

I went over yesterday because we needed a step for the camper. Even the fold-down steps still leave quite a gap, and I worry about rolling my ankle in the dark and falling off the steps. We borrowed a step this weekend to prevent that from happening, but we can't always borrow. A new step is $80-$100. So I go to thinking because there are a lot better things I can spend $80 on than a step.

When I was young and stupid, I got into the Step workout craze. It didn't last long for me, but I did buy a Step at Play It Again Sports. For $20. It ended up being a very nice cat perch, not so good for the workout. And it's been in the basement for, um, 11 years. So I go to thinking, I could probably use that one. So I went down to get it.

It works perfectly. I know not to go crazy on it and it's going to be one of the last thing that gets set up so that we're not clomping up and down on it. It's a stop-gap measure. But I have to admit, I set it up in the driveway, and did a little step workout. I don't know if Left-brain was impressed, but, hey, it's $80 we don't have to find! Woo hoo!

I've gotten pretty much all of my stash out of my mom's house, so I've started bringing my books home. I discovered Amazon this year, and love it, but I realized that I have a lot of the books that they recommend for me, so I'm trying to gather in my collection, go through and divvy out the ones I don't want or didn't like, so that, one day, in the next house, when I have the library I dream about, it's full of the books that I love. I brought home Bag of Bones, by Stephen King, last night. I have had issues with this book in the past, but I'm hoping the third time's the charm with it. Otherwise, it goes to Goodwill. I also discovered I have not one, not two, but three copies of Jane Smiley's "Horse Heaven." I know I liked that book, but didn't know I liked it that much, LOL. I gave my mom one copy, and I'll probably do a giveaway on the extra. If anyone is interested, let me know.

I finished Brave Hearts finally. I realized it's been 6 weeks since I had a finish. That seems unbelievable to me, usually I'm a faster stitcher, but you can only go so fast when you rotate between a BAP and a project that runs out of floss. Oh, well. Since I'm focusing on UFOs, I should get some more finishes by the end of the year. I hope . . .

4 comments:

Julie M said...

Hi Rachel! Wow! 6 weeks since you had a finish! Doesn't seem like that long to me!

Kudos on saving the money. Always a good thing to do and I'm sure you can find a better place for that 80.00 dollars!

Siobhán said...

I can't wait to see your Brave Hearts!

Good for you on the step. Been there, done that, I think mine is either in a landfill or was given away. When I returned from my honeymoon, my mother was on the phone to me, telling me to clear my stuff out asap and what I didn't take would be tossed. She rejected the idea of making my bedroom into a shrine, which was really a mistake on her part, I think. LOL

Meari said...

I got one of those steps from a freecycler, along with some 80's videos (lol). Tell ya what, those really give a sweaty workout! Not that I lasted through one entire workout -or- got the step out again. Shh! At least you're putting yours to use ;-)

Cathy said...

Oh yeah, the step. I had one too. Not a good idea. I always thought there had to be a better use for those things! Also, my husband and I were just wondering how long we would have our son's boxes of stuff crammed under the basement stairs. We came up with 4 years. Oh well.

I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped--Frederick Perls