We got some much needed new stuff this week.

1. Laundry shelf. Our little laundry room lacked any storage space beyond the window sill, but the wall above the sink was empty. I picked up this shelf last week at Howard’s Storage World. My friend Albert came over last weekend with his hammer drill (since our walls are all masonry) to help us hang it. I am ridiculously pleased with my little shelf. (In my Elizabeth Bennet voice: “Shelves in the laundry! Happy thought indeed.”)

2. Kitchen shelf/bars. We approached the big empty space above the kitchen sink as both a challenge and an opportunity. The Snook has long desired to HANG THINGS in his kitchen. With that in mind, we picked up a bunch of Grundtal accessories from IKEA a few weeks ago. Albert helped the Snook hang them. We’ve got two shelves across the top, two bars across the middle, a hanging spice rack, a bunch of hooks, and a magnetic knife rack. Now we just need to decide what else we’re going to put on it!

3. My new Campers. Most mornings I walk by the Camper shop in the QVB in the city, and every day for some weeks now I’ve looked at these shoes in the window. Last night Fiona turned up at the TC SnB with a Camper bag of her own. Their sale was still on, she said, and she was happy to accompany me there afterwards. My shoes were on sale for 50% off! I couldn’t resist. They’re very comfy.

Google on hiring spree. GAH.

Yesterday they all mocked my animated gif. “Is that all it does? Can’t you make it move any faster?” Today I had twenty new Internet orders. TWENTY. And they’re all for the clearance stuff.

I am a marketing genius.

Angry workout music. This could come in handy when I finish the Couch-to-5K podcasts…

Thanks to Ma Snook, I now have a genuine vintage pinafore apron! I pulled it over my head tonight and immediately set to work making cookies. I AM SO RETRO CUTE IT HURTS.

I have issues with small animals.
I was just updating some of my Ravelry projects when I heard a commotion behind me. I turned around to see what the cat was playing with. With a shock, I saw something dark scuttling along the edge of the carpet. I ran to the phone.

Me: AHHH! There’s a CREATURE in here!
Snookums: (on the bus, by the sound of it) There’s a what now?
Me: A skink! I think it’s a SKINK! She’s chasing it around and she’s going to EAT IT! WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Him: Well, get her off it! Then pick it up–
Me: WHAT?!
Him: Okay, cover it with a jar and then use a piece of paper to take it outside.
Me: Okay.

So I got a jar and went back to the office… and the skink was gone. There sat the stupid cat, mewing and sniffing around the base of my office chair.

Me: What– DID YOU LOSE IT? HOW COULD YOU LOSE IT? You’re a cat, damn you! Where did it go?! DID YOU EAT IT?

I can’t find any trace of it. Either she ate it… or it crawled into some part of my office chair for safety, and it’s going to wait until I’m sitting here late one night surfing before it crawls out and gives me a heart attack.

Whoa. In case you missed the link in the comments from M-H: Heath Ledger is dead. Man. His poor little girl! And I know it’s morbid, but I wonder what this is going to do to the upcoming Batman movie…

Well, this year’s Oscar nominees have been announced… which means that my Sixth Annual Oscar Contest will start this weekend! As usual, the prize will be a fabulous, one-of-a-kind hand-crafted sock monkey. (Have I got a brilliant one for you this year…)

Thing-a-Day. It’s a challenge for the month of February to create some new thing every single day. “knit cook draw paint tape solder write install destroy invent document.” I like that.