OK, I finally started going through my books this weekend.  I’ve pulled about a carton’s worth off the shelves to send off to Iraq or Afghanistan.  I really need to go through all of the remainder and get tougher about my choices to keep.  I’d like to get rid of enough so that they all fit on the shelves that I’ve got without being stacked up the way they are currently.  I’m planning on cataloging as I pack up what I’m keeping so that I have a good record of what I have and what I’ve read.  There’s nothing more annoying than buying what looks like an interesting book based on the blurb on the cover or in the front and then getting a quarter of the way into it only to realize that you’ve already read that one.

Before I got to the books, I went through all my backlogged catalogs and magazines and got ruthless with them.  I washed a bunch of linen and silk with Synthropol, which removes all the chemicals from the cloth so that it will accept dye better.  I’ll be heading up to Daffydd and Octavia’s next weekend to dye a bunch of it.  I also bought and put together my second Elfa cart for the craft room, and loaded all my sewing notions and patterns into it.  That mostly cleared the shelves, and I was able to put the rest of my fabric back in the closet.  Still need to get one more cart for all my other crafty stuff and install more shelves in the closet, and then I’ll be done except for the two tables I need to build.  One will hold the sewing machine and serger, and the other one will be for beading and fabric painting, etc.  Those will have to wait until the new carpet is down.

Went to see HP tonight and enjoyed it a lot.  I thought they did a very good job on this one.  Should get my copy of DH tomorrow and will read it next week.  Hope she finishes out the series well!

This was supposed to be a work weekend, and it’s not a total wash, but I haven’t gotten that much done.  I was out running errands from about 9:30 to 4:00 or so and bought some stuff I need to organize the craft room and the garage.  I went to Expo Design Center and took care of some details that got missed when we placed the order for all the stuff for my house project, and I bought a locking mailbox, which I may try to install tomorrow.  But I didn’t get the craft room organized yet, nor the garage.  And I haven’t even started on my books.  Or the laundry.  At least I got the necessary grocery shopping done.  Well, here’s hoping I actually get some stuff done tomorrow.

I’m looking at the growing pile of “stuff to get rid of” that’s beginning to take over one wall of my garage.  It’s a combination of SCA stuff, fabric, appliances, camping gear, clothes, and just about anything else you could name.  There’s not enough of it to have a garage sale . . . yet.  I’ve only gone through the garage and 2 bedrooms.  Haven’t even started on the kitchen or the office, which should yield lots of books (although I’ll probably take those to Half-Price Books after letting friends pick through them) and assorted kitchen and office stuff.  Then there’s the Master Bedroom and SCA closet.  I’ll have lots of clothes to get rid of at the very least (all the various sizes).  I have about a month to get everything cleaned out and decide what to do with the pile.  Then, I need to get rid of it before all the house renovation stuff is delivered – they’ve told me it will take up half my garage.  If I still want to park in the garage (and I do!), then the stuff I’m cleaning out has to go first.  Thank heavens that I have no more events to go to after this weekend until mid-August.  Guess what I’ll be doing for the next several weekends? 

Mom’s in town, and we had a lovely weekend.  Shopping, cooking, talking – I cherish every opportunity we have to spend time together.  She’s 75 and healthy, but she’s definitely showing signs of aging, and I know she won’t be around for too many more years.  We went down to the Expo Design Center, and I showed her all the stuff I’m having installed in the house with my renovation.  Then we went to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for dinner last night.  They’re about 1/3 done with their home renovation, but now that they’ve got the kitchen and living/dining room done, they love cooking for people.

Had my meeting with designer and contractor on Thursday morning.  Very pleased – the job came in significantly less expensive than the initial estimate!  Woo-hoo!  Everything has now been ordered, and once it’s all delivered to Expo, we set up a pre-construction appointment to schedule the installation.  It’s looking like everything will be done by the end of August.  My  house will be fabulous!  Well, actually, I think my house is already fabulous, but it will be fabulouser.  I hope the install won’t take more than a week or so.  MCC has offered to take my cats in for a little while so that I don’t have to worry about them as the workers go in and out of the house.  She’s also offered me a bedroom if necessary.  I don’t think it will be, but it’s sure nice not to have to worry about hotels and pet-hotels!

Having a crowd over next weekend.  Many of the northern crew will be staying here, and we’ll be day-tripping Coronation.  Mom and I spent much of yesterday cleaning out my third bedroom (the sewing/craft room) so that there’s enough room for guests.  I had the built-in bookshelves on which a bunch of things had been stuffed torn out, and everything on them was sitting on the futon.  All of that needed to be sorted and cleared away, so I took the opportunity to go through all my fabric and craft materials, organized everything, cleaned out what I don’t need to keep, and got everything stored in the closet.  Except my fabric.  I have a bunch of linen, cottons and silk that have no home at the moment – it won’t fit in the closet now that all the stuff from the bookshelves live there.  I’ll need to box it up until I have the chance to re-do the closet with bins for the fabric.  Hmmm, that might be a good weekend (or two) project – maybe I’ll head to the Container Store to talk with the Elfa folks after work tonight.