File: Shelf Update

We really didn't expect to have any consequences when putting up the bedroom shelf. We thought we'd only receive benefits.

We didn't account for our cats. They use the shelf as a ladder to the top of the wardrobes, which is a sort of terrifying for us because we're afraid they'll fall. (They're not the most graceful cats I've ever seen.) Patrick already has; he turned out okay.

Patrick, our constant explorer, decided to use the shelf as a launching pad for a new jungle gym: the top of our bed (pictured above). It's a pretty surreal, yet entertaining experience to watch him navigate our room.

Ah, consequences.

File: Handy Man

Matt build shelves in our bedroom! He is becoming very handy. I am proud, proud, proud of him.

File: Library Project

Shelf 2 is up at MetBlogs.

File: Traffic Boo!

Lake Shore Drive. Normally an expressway, today a parking lot. Allowed speed: 40. Current speed: 3. Boo.

File: The Luck of the Irish, Part III

Green river!

File: The Luck of the Irish, Part II

It is green enough. It is also cold. Inside we go.

File: The Luck of the Irish, Part I

St. Patty Day. At the river waiting for them to dye it green. It started snowing, but that has not stopped the merry-making bead throwers. I caught some.

File: High Five!

Rio, the high-fiving cat.

File: Dress-Up

I would like to moonlight as a swanky mom model from 1963. I bought the wig at Carson Pirie Scott before it went out of business.

File: Fish

Bad news. I came in this morning and found the tank empty. Scribe was nowhere to be found. After a fantasy of the fish who morphed into light and being, I found him dried and cold on the floor. Before I talk about his short little life, let me say what a way to go. He must have flung himself out of the tank as he was a good two feet away from his bowl. Alas, the advice for a screen (which came from my dad and my boss) came too late.

Scribe was our group's little mascot. Everyone gathered around as I attempted to gather him in the net and return him to the sea, via the Chicagoland public plumbing scenic route. He was a good fish and I thanked him for all of the joy he brought us in his short life. (Maybe a year is a long time to live for a sweet little betta.)

My co-worker, Alex, made him the sign above and tacked it to my cube.

Everyone has asked me if I'm going to get a new fish. I'm not sure yet, but I know everyone wants me to bring another creature back into our department. He brought me comfort, like I'm not alone in my cube with the little guy swimming around his tank. I think everyone felt that way.

Scribe was the Superman of fish.

File: Fish

This is Scribe, my at-work fish. I cleaned his bowl this morning. As I was sitting here working, I heard this "plop" sound. He had jumped out of the bowl and was flopping around on my desk. After a failed attempt to rescue him with my hands, I got the net, scooped him up, and returned him to his bowl. I'm worried that something is wrong. (I'm also nervous that he's going to do it again.)

Anyone know why he did that?

File: Quilting Galore

In case you're wondering what I've been doing at work for the last couple of months, here it is: the HowStuffWorks Quilting content extravaganza.*

We put together 354 pages with everything from how to quilt, quilt blocks, quilt patterns (with free downloadable PDFs), and a pretty cool quilting gallery.

Let your ideas run wild.

*Yes, this means that I have a lot of theoretical quilting knowledge and very little actual quilting experience. This does not stop me from proclaiming myself as a quilting expert.

File: One Finished Room

Man, this bathroom is hard to photograph. You can't really see the lavender walls, but this it: The purple bathroom picture. Otherwise known as our only finished room.

Thanks to Karen for the nudge and the pretty felted bowl.

File: Virtual Moving!

Good news! The Library Project has been picked up by MetroBlogging Chicago. Continue the saga of all 216 shelves over there.

I've included a little box (scroll down, it's on the left) that should tell you whenever I've posted something cool.*


*The box is just a bunch of code. It has no idea if my writing is cool or not.