A little of this, a little of that

I'm not sure I have all that much of interest to say today, so feel free to skim this entry :) First, it is finally the time of year to switch over to flannel sheets. Almost every year, we jump the gun and change as soon as it gets cold, and then we have to change back for a few days of Indian summer. But I think this year, we timed it well. I'm pretty sure last week was the last time we'll see temperatures in the 60s for months. And months. Wow, winter's long here. Second, I actually finally took apart the desk in our bedroom, and now we have room for Butterbean to sleep! I should add that when Matt and I consolidated our one-bedroom apartments into our two-bedroom one, we really had too much furniture. We gave away a few things, such as one set of coffee tables (and, I'm still annoyed about this, Matt gave away my full-length mirror so to try and judge whether shoes go with a pair of pants, for example, I have to stand on the toilet and sort of lean over to the bathroom mirror), but we have his couch and my futon in the living room, which is nice for having company over. And we had my desk in our bedroom, even though the bedroom window looks out over the dumpsters and there isn't enough room to work there anyway, so it just held stuff we didn't have room for anywhere else. So I dissected it, keeping a bookshelf component (since I hoard books like people in hurricane country hoard bottled water). And now I can set up the Pack N Play, which is where Butterbean will sleep for the first few months. I feel quite accomplished. Now I just have to attack the other 27 tons of junk that we've been hanging onto because we're both incurable packrats. I'm trying to do a little at a time, though my usual cleaning style is to completely wear myself out with hours-long cleaning sessions.

Oh, and since I always make Tim do my memes, it's only fair that I have to do his.

List five songs that you currently love. It doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the songs in your blog. Then tag five other friends to see what they're listening to.

I have to put a disclaimer that this is for RIGHT NOW and some choices may make it seem like I have the most appalling taste in music. I do like actual good music, too, you know.

1. Vivaldi's Four Seasons (I know this is not just *a* song, but whatever). I've been all over this one lately, when I listen to classical music and write. I think it's a fall thing, with the transition between seasons.

2. I absolutely love Billy Idol's cover of Don't You (Forget About Me) right now. You know, that song from that Molly Ringwald movie. I see no reason to justify this.

3. One by Aimee Mann from the Magnolia soundtrack.

4. Almost by Bowling for Soup. This is from my "Teeny Bopper Music" playlist because Matt always teases me about the stuff I like that's aimed at a demographic younger than me. I used to call Emo "teeny bopper punk without the edge" before I asked my little brother what it was really called. Man, I'm getting old.

5. Okay, this is cheating a little on the last one. It's my own little version of Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy. We were flipping through channels and happened to watch VH1 Classic briefly (I'm totally lying. We watched it for a while, in horror at an entire show devoted to 1992. We had barely made peace with the 80s being classic, and now the 90s!? Ack!) and this video came on (it's still pretty funny, by the way). And later on, I had the song stuck in my head. And it occurred to me that "catwalk" and "cat-box" sound really similar. So I started making up a version of the song with cats instead of models. You know, "I'm a kitty, you know what I mean, and I shake my little tush in the cat-box."

If you feel like responding to this on your blog, then consider yourself tagged!

Knitting: More on the cardigan, more on the garter stitch blanket. I think I might send the finished blanket to my grandmother and ask her to sew on a satin edging. I really want it to have one, but there's no way my sewing skills are up to the task. Hand-stitching a 30" square would take forever, and my stitches are just not that neat. I'm definitely doing i-cord ties on the bonnet. You can totally tell this is my first baby, because I was thinking, "Will i-cord look nice on the bonnet?" instead of "When the baby chews on the cord, will i-cord or ribbon hold up better?" Ha! Thank you for the reality check, everyone :)

Reading: I finished Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron. I loved it! I thought it was lots of fun, quite well-written, and an enjoyable mystery. The period feel makes it heavier than the usual cozy mystery, but in a good way. I have a longer review over at On My Bookshelf (link on the sidebar) if you're interested. I made a big dent in Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris as well. It's significantly more fluffy and doesn't attempt authenticity of period at all, so it's going quickly. This is the first Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery.

Writing: 38,600. Nearly done with Chapter 8.

Cooking: I made chili and cornbread last night. The cornbread is a recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I don't use this much, but it has some good light versions of basic recipes, and the cornbread is very nice. The chili was Black Bean Chili from the December 2005 Cooking Light. I was out of chipotle sauce and the store didn't have it this time, so I tossed a can of chipotles in adobo into the Cuisinart. It was a good thing I tasted it before adding, because that's a LOT hotter than the chipotle sauce. I cut back from 1/4 cup chipotle sauce to 1 TBL chipotle puree, and it still had quite a kick to it. Good stuff, though. I'm about ready to make something with pumpkin again, maybe pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins. And I still haven't made my cinnamon buns.