Category: Life Hacks by Katrin Greene

Whoo-hooo!  I got a “not on your nelly- it’s only 8 degrees” turn down for an invitation to a snowball fight yesterday.  While I’m disappointed there was only one snowball thrown, mine on my sister, and I do have to admit she got me bad enough with the snowblower once that it went into my ear, yesterday was fun, getting out into the snow.

It’s been a fairly good weekend.  While most of what I did would be absolutely boring to most, I feel pretty good right now.  Most of the household laundry is done and actually put away.  The first floor has been swept.  All my bedding is clean, and yes, I did get to play wrestly with the cats getting the sheets on.  Most of the dishes are done and my fridge now has food in it again. Most of my year end accounting is done and I actually have a clean desk.  The bathroom is half done.  This on top of partaking in my neighborhood’s snow blower wars, where everyone is outside and cleaning up after a storm.

I’ve been struggling with “Oak” – book 7 in my Novo series, and how I want to rewrite it.  This is the last one I came up for air from.  If anyone knows a writer, you can probably understand why, for me, that chore list is huge.  When I came out of the latest typing craze a handful of weeks ago, I started seeing all the clutter.  While I do at least attempt decon procedures every weekend, and when I’m writing I do get the house somewhat under control, sometimes it can take me two months to get fully back on track with decluttering my home of 6 households worth of “stuff.”  Past roommates and a possession oriented ex.

I think my favorite part of cleaning this weekend was doing the mouse cages.  I had more than one very interested feline be my bestest buddy while scooping out used shred.  While the mice were still “at home” and not in the tank I use to do a full decon.

I am so ready to start decluttering again.  Once I move several boxes of decorations back up to the attic.  It’s been mostly sub-zero temps here since Christmas and I am not insane enough to open the attic’s insulated second door.  Even though, yes, I am insane enough to go outside and PLAY.

I am ready to repaint my old bedroom.  Ready to start stripping furniture.  Ready to redo my movie closet.  Ready to move the upstairs “stuff” around and make both my quilting room and play room.  Ready to say “goodbye” to broken dreams and to put what I need in play to make new ones.

Which is why I’m circling back to Oak. Of all the books I’ve written so far, Ash was, by far, the easiest.  Ivy, book 11, is the second.  This weekend, I’ve re-read Ivy, the 2/3’rds that I’ve gotten done so far, and felt that “yeah” vibe and while I will be working on decluttering, getting Ash finalized, my role playing game, and expansion packs for Survival:Heaps, I’m hoping some of that vibe soaks in for Oak.  I’ll be taking a long break from Novo.  Maybe a year, from starting some of the later in the series, and working on Haven Point.  The same break I took from my cop series that gave birth to Novo.

It’s time I made happy.  It’s time I stopped living a life I no longer wanted to live and to fully break free of it.  I made a list, about 4 years ago.  And I am going to try like hell to stop referring to my break up with my ex as a “book ending, new chapter in my life.”  Because a lot of what I knew 4 years ago, I knew a long time ago and I gave up on it.  I was too tired to fend off everything to make that for myself.  Now?  It’s time and while I make this change over in my life, I will be thinking of Oak and Bryn, and seeing that discovery happen for me and happen for them.

That’s what the tattoos have been about.  Reminders.  Acknowledgements.  My “stamps” marking important aspects of my life and, you know?  None of them were created in anger or bitterness.  They are all aspects of love.  Good, positive, healthy love.

And who knows?  I may just be able to get enough clutter out of the 2nd floor and the attic this summer to finally get that skee-ball machine I’ve always wanted…

The joke is SO on me!

A prank that wasn’t.

Today, while at work, I answered the phone and nearly pissed myself.  The tech that was calling, out of the blue mind you, sounded exactly like one of my closest friends.  Tone, pitch, that slight gruffy undercurrent, wording, inflections.  You name it.

I thought it was my friend calling me, not actually knowing the name of the place where my new job is, to pull off a prank.  This guy’s kinda on the resourceful side if he puts his mind to it.  That’s a big if, but the voice on the other end of the line was so… so… accurate!

I tried so hard to keep my mind where it should have been, but I could barely concentrate on the information the tech was giving me.  Inside, I was giggling very hard.

So, I’ve “met” a vocal doppelganger of my friend.  So much that I very nearly called the tech by my friend’s name and more than once.  The even more weird part?

I did ask the tech if he was from around this area.  Nope.  Never even been to this part of the country.  I explained why.  We both laughed pretty hard about it.  Even weirder, the guy on the phone went to college for the exact thing my friend does for a living.

How odd is that?

I am still giggling at the prank that I wound up pulling on myself.

Have an awesome night, all!

 

This morning at 0430, I was still awake, eating a grilled cheese, when I had that V8 moment.  Why in the world would I want to be around people who stress me out when I’m seeking out fun and laughter?

If I dread being around someone who has the patience of a gnat with it’s ass on fire, even though I may love this person… WHY?

If I have to jump through that many hoops, that make me wind up feeling like I’m talking to a wall?

If all I get is grief from a third party for not putting up with the bull?

I’ve had those thoughts so many times over the years.    What I decided when my long term relationship ended.  Not to wait any more.  Not to waste my life any more.  Not to be pulled down like that any more.  While I had to wait to heal, and I knew that, I was still seeking joy and fun.

And now?  Now, I’ve woken up one morning and felt.  Really felt.  And I knew that that time in my life was over.

Fun and laughter all the way.  And, I’m past saying fuck off to the headaches of recent days.  I went to be last night still humming the Curly Shuffle, I have wonderful people I’m going to see today, an awesome drive where I get to see icicles and snow in the country, and I woke up this morning with two of my fur babies on either side and another playing the tapping game on my hand.