#need to reorganize and clean my shelves so i can take some actually good pictures

[phantomtheive]

HES HOME!!!!!!!!!!

[alex-ruins-everything]

Turning Pages - Chapter 1

Intrulogical bookshop au! Read whole thing on ao3 here

Logan Berry had a normal, content, average life. He was happy working at the bookshop that he simply loved, all until the brash and loud brother of one of his coworker's boyfriend's entered the picture. Then he found his quite perfect life interrupted by something he had never experienced before - fun. Remus Kingsley was getting him to branch out, and not looking too bad while doing it. 

Logan Berry had a normal, content, average life. He had good grades, a solid sleep schedule, an average amount of social interaction, and a job that he adored. He worked at a bookshop, the same bookshop he had spent most of his childhood in since most preteens were not fans of their intellectually superior peers. Though at the bookshop he could put all of that aside and immerse himself in knowledge - and on the rare occasion, some fantasy. In all fairness it didn’t take long for the bookshop owner, Mr. Sanders, to start recognizing the young boy that was always sitting in the armchairs by the windows. It didn’t take much more time after that for him to start to take Logan under his wing, showing him how the bookshop runs and on Logan’s 16th birthday, offering him a job that was happily accepted. Logan had always been an enthusiastic learner and that directly translated into his work. When Mr. Sanders’ attention got pulled away from the shop, Logan happily picked up the slack.

He was not a fan of summer break, finding the halt in his education to be cumbersome, but he did enjoy having more time to spend at the shop. It was 7am sharp when he unlocked the door, the familiar bell tingling to indicate entry as he flipped on the light switches, immediately soaking in the smell of the books with a smile to himself. Now to begin on the opening checklist he knew so well. Step one, lock the door to avoid any early customers. Check. Step two, count the money and open the register up. Check. Step three, check displays and ensure that bookmarks are orderly and the magazines are sitting neat. Check. Step four, go through aisles and ensure that books are neatly lined up and in alphabetical order. This step takes a while so it is vital to keep an eye on the time so that at precisely 8am the door can be unlocked again. Logan does his job thoroughly until he checks this one off as well, standing behind the register to organize the pens and highlighters, ensuring there is receipt tape in the printer. At 7:58 he pulls his apron on over his head, unlocking the door with a soft click of the lock, straightening a display of books as he passed by.

It was not unusual for Logan’s coworker to be late to his morning shift. Patton Hart seemed to always arrive at 8am dull rather than sharp, but he always made up for it in some way so it was quite hard to get mad at him. Today, for example, he skipped in at nearly 8:15, but he was holding two cups of coffee and a pastry bag.

“Sorry I’m late!” Patton apologized, reading the side of one of the cups before handing it to Logan. “Remy was extra chatty at the coffee shop today...but here you go! Large black coffee and a blueberry muffin.”

Logan thanked the other, taking the coffee and sipping at it. He had already had a cup before leaving home but it wouldn’t hurt to have another. He had already eaten breakfast so he tucked the muffin under the counter for later. Patton went into a small room behind the counter to set his belongings down and clock in, returning in his apron and a smile.

“I need to know what book you plan on reading for the kids on Saturday so a display can be set up,” Logan stated, looking over the short list of events the shop had planned. Patton hosted book readings for young children every once in a while and it was always a hit, bringing in lots of revenue for the shop. Another reason he could get away with being late.

“Oh! I was thinking If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” he replied. “We just got a shipment in of those, right? I thought it might work out nicely especially since I did the Pigeon books last time.”

“Excellent,” Logan nodded, approving the idea by penciling it onto the schedule next to the time slot for Patton’s Reading Circle.

It wasn’t a very busy day, but it went by seemingly quickly with lots to do. Logan sat in the office for a good two hours, filling out orders for the shipment they would receive on Wednesday, making sure to get any special requests customers had ordered. When that was done he went about reorganizing the science section, making room for a new book that would be gracing the shelves and placing a space-holder in the meantime. Patton had been fluffing up the pillows on the cushiony chairs set around the store and dusting off shelves and cleaning the windows down. When a customer came in one of them would help them find what they wanted then ring them up, that bell by the door always chiming to alert them. The peaceful and known routine was part of what made Logan happy. Around noon he excused himself to the back to eat the muffin Patton had brought this morning, letting the other know that his break was scheduled in about an hour when their third coworker arrived.

When it came to Virgil Storm it was always a toss up. He was either early or late, never on time. Today however he chose to be early, walking in fifteen minutes before one, nodding a hello to both Logan and Patton as he headed to the back, sipping on an iced coffee with a tired expression. He came back out with his apron on, the cord of his headphones hanging out of his pocket a little bit as he started his usual rounds around the store. Aside from Logan, Virgil was definitely the most detail oriented.

Logan excused Patton for his break, perching on a stool behind the register and pulling out a large binder to work on some scheduling for the next few weeks. Always better to get things done in advance, of course. The bell rang and Logan looked up to greet the customer but saw it was just Roman, Virgil’s boyfriend.

“Hello, Roman,” he nodded, getting a greeting back before Roman was off to find Virgil.

Logan had never seen Roman actually read a book, but he did buy them every so often, mostly ones about theater or anything that had a dragon on the cover. He was just charming enough to have won over Mr. Sanders on the few times they had crossed paths in the shop, but really he only served as a distraction. Today wasn’t busy so Logan let him stay for a little while before leaving his post at the register to check on how he was interfering with Virgil today.

“Roman, if you shadow Virgil any longer I’m going to hand you an apron and consider it your training,” he warned lightly.

“Okay, okay,” Roman started. “He’s just showing me some new fantasy stuff, I promise I’ll be a paying customer this time.”

Logan decided to believe him, returning to his post at the register and continuing to pencil names onto a schedule, trying to work around the names to fit something that was fair for everyone. Then of course he would send it to Mr. Sanders for approval before posting it on the bulletin board in the room behind the counter. The bell rang again and Logan looked up to greet a customer or say hello to Patton who surely was due back from his break soon but was instead met with the most interesting person he had ever laid eyes on.

This man was all broad shoulders and wild hair, a streak of white gracing the front of his curls and a mustache that was twirled at the ends in ways Logan thought only the men in Victorian romance novels sported. He was somewhat dressed for the warm weather outside in a mossy green tank top that hung obscenely off his body, showing off an octopus tattoo on his left shoulder with the tentacles creeping down his upper arm, and black jeans that were more rips than pants. His eyes scanned around the bookshop, landing on Logan for a second too long to be played of as a passing glance.

“Roman! If you don’t quit making out with Virgil against a bookshelf I’m gonna leave your ass here,” the man said just a little too loudly for proper bookshop etiquette.

“Hey, shuddup,” Roman said, emerging from the shelves with a book in his hand. “Remus, I thought you were shopping down the street.”

“I was, then I got bored. Hey, this place is weird. I don’t think I’ve ever been in here,” the man - Remus - said, picking up one of the display books and flipping it open, only to put it back down in a way that wasn’t remotely how he had found it. “C’mon, I wanna swing by the park and chase the geese before we head home. Hurry up.”

Logan found that he had been watching the interaction, his scheduling forgotten as Roman came and set his selection on the counter, Remus following behind him and messing up the neat displays of knick-knacks on the counter.

“Told you I’d buy a book,” Roman said with a grin. “Oh, this is my brother by the way. Sorry he’s loud.”

Remus flicked Roman on the back of the head. “Am not. This place is just super quiet,” his eyes trailed over Logan in a way that was enough to make him feel like he was being dissected. “Nice to meet you, Specs.”

“And you as well,” Logan said, ringing up Roman’s book and sliding it into a paper bag, cuing him up to pay. Though with how brash this man was he wasn’t sure if that was an entirely true statement. “Roman, you’re good to go. Have a nice day.”

Logan watched the two brother’s leave, sighing lightly as he closed the scheduling binder and sticking it back under the counter. Patton came back with a happy wave and a box of donuts that he set in the back for them all to pick at when they wished. He let Patton watch the register, moving to clean up the damage that Remus had left behind to his strictly ordered displays. Well, hopefully that wouldn’t be a continuous issue. Remus seemed like he read books even less than Roman, though Logan couldn’t deny there was something illogically intriguing about how unrestrained Remus had been.

[tinydooms]

Hi. I just love your stories. They are very well written and I can actually imagine the characters doing that. Can you write a story on Evy coming back to library and arranging it after Imhotep's death and Rick helping her out with that. I always wondered about that but couldn't find anything written in it.

Thank you! I’m so glad you like my stories; that is the best compliment a writer can get! I’ve had a go at your prompt. It turned out rather longer than I’d anticipated. I hope you like it!

A Bit of a Mess in the Library

Cairo, November 1922

“Wow!”

“Oh, please don’t,” Evie said crossly, unpinning her hat and tossing it down on a table. “I told you it was bad.”

Rick stood in the doorway, eyes wide as he stared around the wreckage of the library. “You told me you made a ‘huge mess’. This is a lot more than a huge mess!”

Evie sighed. In her absence, Mohammed, Abdul, and Bob had at least righted the bookshelves, all eighteen of them, but the books and papers and periodicals themselves were still scattered willy-nilly around the room. In a way it was a blessing--any attempt by an untrained layperson would make even more a hash of the categories and alphabetization--but it was also a damned nuisance. Looking at it with fresh eyes, she could see why Dr. Bey had simply locked the doors in her absence and cursed her for breathing. 

It was Evie’s first day back at work after their misadventure at Hamunaptra. Rick had offered to walk her to work, ambling along beside her as they took the tram out of Zamalek into the center of Cairo and walked the last few streets to the Museum of Antiquities. He was looking quite dashing, if Evie thought so herself, in a suit of soft dark blue twill and a brown homburg and Evie was proud to have him on her arm. Still, she had felt a twinge of worry as she unlocked the library door. She had warned Rick about the mess, but seeing it now and seeing his wide eyes, shame flooded her and she turned away. 

“Hey,” Rick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not broken beyond repair, right? We can fix it.”

“Yes,” Evie said forlornly. “But one does feel a real prat for causing this in the first place.”

“How did you do it?”

Evie pointed to the ladder on the floor under the books and narrated her attempts at shelving, her thoughtless accident. Rick listened, biting his lip, his face going through a series of extortions. When she finished, he gave a great shout of laughter and put his hands on her shoulders. 

“Evelyn Carnahan,” he said, grinning, “you are a firecracker.” 

He kissed her forehead and Evie relaxed, grinning sheepishly. 

“I suppose that’s one word for it. Anyway, you mustn’t tell Professor and Mrs. Emerson what happened.”

“Of course not.” Rick shrugged his jacket off and slung it over the back of a chair. “We’ll let them think the mob got to it.”

“Oh God, can you imagine?” Evie shuddered. She knew what happened to libraries when angry people got to them. 

“Yeah.” Rick shook his head, rolling up his sleeves. Really, he had wonderful forearms, and such lovely hands. Evie almost didn’t hear his next question. “Where should we begin?”

“Um.” She looked around. “The A’s, I suppose. Yes, the A’s. Let’s start by just putting the books on the shelves in their appropriate sections. If you see anything that looks bent or damaged, put it on the table.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They set to work, hefting books up into the shelves, working by author and subject. Really, it wasn’t difficult work, just time consuming and quite labor intensive. Evie watched Rick out of the corner of her eye as he slotted books back into the heavy oak shelves. He handled them gently, respectfully, occasionally pausing to read a title or look at the cover. It still amazed Evie that he was here at all, that he liked her--loved her--well enough to stay; that he was happy to take direction from her and content to work alongside her. The work went so much faster with two hands. 

“Were you going to do all of this yourself?” Rick asked after a while. 

Evie, halfway up the bookshelf on the step ladder, leaned down to take a couple of books from him. “Ideally I have assistants, but they’ve all swanned off to Luxor to see Howard Carter’s new find. I may ask Mrs. Emerson if she knows anyone willing to help. She knows everyone.”

“She’s the acting director’s wife, right?” That was the other thing about Rick that still amazed Evie: he listened to what she said and remembered it. 

“That’s right; Amelia P. Emerson. She’s very efficient; she’s the one who helped us the most after my parents--well. In any case, she’ll likely be able to rustle up some help.”

Rick smiled up at her. “Can she rustle up some sliding ladders that we can bolt to the shelves? It’s no wonder that everything fell over if you’re only using a sliding ladder to reach the high shelves. You should at least have an A-frame.”

“I’ll put it on my list,” Evie said, smiling. 

After a while they stopped for tea, made in the kettle in Evie’s tiny cupboard of an office. They had made good progress, finishing up the A’s and B’s, heading onto the C’s. Still, it would take at least a week to get everything off of the floor, and longer to reorganize and alphabetize. Rick leaned his elbows on the table as Evie spoke, scribbling notes on a pad of paper. 

“--and I’ll need to have a look at the card catalogue while I’m at it; it was due for an update even before all this,” she finished. She rubbed her brow between the eyes. “Oh dear, it’s all too much, isn't it? I can do it, but it will take forever.”

Rick spun the pad of paper around. “The way I see it, we need at least six other guys helping us, maybe eight. It took the two of us about an hour to re-shelve one side, right? So if we have five teams of two, including us, working to stick everything back into place, we could feasibly have everything put away by the end of the week. And then you get some actual librarians in, some assistants, and work your magic putting everything in order.”

Evie looked at the paper. Rick had drawn a small diagram of the bookshelves, and the teams at each. A little of her overwhelm subsided. His plan was very pragmatic. Then his words registered--including us--and she looked up at him. 

“Do you mean to say that you want to come every day and help me with this?” 

Surprise passed over Rick’s face. “Yeah, if you want me to. I’ve never worked in a library but I’m pretty good at cleaning up.”

“You darling!” Evie said. “May I kiss you?”

For a little while they were quiet, nuzzling each other, Evie’s arms around Rick’s neck. Really, he was the loveliest man, the most attentive, the nicest--

“Evelyn?” came a voice from the library proper, and they parted, reluctantly. 

“Here I am,” Evie called, straightening her collar as she went back out into the disheveled space. 

Mrs. Emerson stood in the doorway, looking about her with no small degree of amazement. In her seventies, she had thick grey hair and a permanent sun-tan, rewards of a life spent excavating alongside her husband. Evie had idolized her as a child; now, Mrs. Emerson’s respect and lifelong support were deeply cherished. 

“Good Gad, my dear, what happened in here? It looks as though someone knocked the whole thing down! I warned Dr. Bey that he needed different bookshelves and sturdier ladders.”

“Er,” said Evie, astonished. “I’m afraid that’s almost exactly what happened.”

Mrs. Emerson shook her head. “Curse it; we must order in some rolling ladders.”

“That’s what I said,” Rick said. 

The two women looked at him, standing there in the doorway to Evie’s office, his shirtsleeves rolled up, the very picture of manly beauty. Mrs. Emerson’s eyebrows rose; she darted a curious glance at Evie. 

“I don’t believe I know you, Mr…?”

“This is Rick O’Connell,” Evie hastened to introduce him. “He was our guide out to Hamunaptra and now he’s...now--” 

How did she describe Rick to someone like Mrs. Emerson, who was well-known to be both fiercely feminist and entirely devoted to her husband? Lover was not the right word for that proud Victorian, nor was it the correct term, yet boyfriend seemed so casual. 

“I’m Evelyn’s assistant,” Rick said. “Can I offer you some tea, Mrs. Emerson?”

Mrs. Emerson looked between the two of them, her gaze turning humorous. “Thank you, Mr. O’Connell. Their guide out to Hamunaptra, were you? And did you find anything?”

Evie and Rick glanced at each other. “Yes,” Evie said, “rather too much, I’m afraid.”

Mrs. Emerson looked them over again. “I will take that cup of tea, Mr. O’Connell. Evelyn, you both must come along to Emerson and tell us everything. I suspect there’s more of a story here than just a messy library.”

“It’s a hell of a story,” Rick said. 

“They usually are,” Mrs. Emerson said wryly. “I have some experience in that field, as Evelyn can tell you. Come along, now, both of you.”

In the end it took a month to clean up the library, even with the assistants that Evie brought on to help. Rick turned out to be a marvelous assistant, helping wherever he was needed, never complaining, always making some kind of conversation to make Evie laugh even if they stayed long past museum hours writing new cards for the catalogue. And if he proposed marriage one evening over cups of tea and ginger biscuits, well, the reader knows what Evie’s answer was. 

[jos-corner-of-the-world]

Tough Love (3)

(2)

Three days after Penelope met with Woosung she'd heard back from him.

She was walking into work when the unfamiliar number came across her screen.

"Hello?" 

"Hello is this Penelope?" 

Penelope recognized the honey smooth voice immediately.

"Yes it is. Woosung right?" She asked.

"Hey, good memory. I have everything done for you. Want to start tonight?"

“Yes.” Penelope answered quickly without even thinking through her answer.

“You’re eager to get going, I like it!  You’re off work at 4 right? How about you come here about 5.  I did some quick meal planning for you too.” Woosung told her.

“That sounds good. I’ll be there about 5. Um..” she started but didn’t know how to finish.

“What’s up?” He asked her.

“Is there anything I need to bring with me?” She asked, feeling like an idiot.

“Nope.  You can bring some clothes to change into after your workout if you want. Otherwise just bring some comfortable shoes and yourself and I will take care of the rest.”

Penelope walked into the gym later that afternoon, eager but reserved.

Milo’s words were constantly in the back of her mind.

What if this isn’t a good idea? What if I really do give up? Is this even worth the trouble and the humiliation?

“Penelope! Nice to see you again.” she heard from the guy at the front desk.

“Jae, right?” she asked.

“That’s me.  Sammy will be out in a few minutes.” he said, smiling up at her.

Penelope had to admit, his smile was infectious.  She couldn’t help but feel more comfortable as she stood there with him.

“So how’s it going?” Jae asked her.

“It’s going, I guess. Penelope replied.

“Doesn’t sound too fun. But also it’s good that’s something is going or you’d be dead, right?” Jae asked.

“I’m not quite sure that’s how it works, but alright.” Penelope laughed.

“Whatever he is saying, don’t listen to him.” Penelope heard Woosung say from next to them.

She wasn’t any less surprised upon seeing him the second time.  His features looked even more prominent and his hair seemed even more white.

Oh god, this isn’t going to work.  He’s too attractive and I’m going to look like such an idiot in front of him.

Instead of saying anything, Penelope just nodded her head in his direction.

“Alright, well if you follow me to my office we can get started.” Woosung told her, motioning her to follow him.

Once they were seated, he began talking again.

“Alright, so based off what we talked about, and the notes Jae had, this is what I’ve figured out.”

Woosung spent the next twenty minutes talking to her about her meal plans as well as what her exercise routines are going to look like.

“It’s definitely a progression.  We’ll start with less and build to more.  That way your body can get used to the new routine and the intensity.  Your body will fight it, and more than likely your mind will too.” Woosung told her honestly.

“But more than anything it’s about getting into a new routine and I’m going to be here every step of the way.”

Everything else made her feel like she was going to die.

The beginning of the workout was easy.  Penelope might have gained a considerable amount of weight, but she was still flexible, so stretching was easy for her.

“Alright, next is squats.  We’ll start doing them without any weights and we’ll work our way up.” Woosung told her.

“Okay, this I know how to do.  Though, my center of gravity has shifted a bit so I’m not as stable” Penelope told him, feeling nervous but excited at the same time.

“That’s alright, I won’t let ya fall.” Woosung promised.

Penelope put her legs shoulder width apart and began squatting down.

He bent down and put her feet into a different position.

“Wait, wait.” Woosung said, coming up behind her.

“Your toes should always be facing straight in front of you. This makes the ankles more stable.  When you’re doing squats your calves, ankles and feet bear your weight. If not positioned properly, you can hurt your ankle.” He said as he looked up at her, still bent at her feet.

Penelope just looked down at him and tried to hide her blush.

Once he stood up, he motioned for her to continue.

Penelope continued as instructed.

“Alright, hold it there for a moment.” Woosung told her.

He walked up behind her and put his hands on her hips.  It was an innocent enough gesture, but it made Penelope feel as if she was on fire.

“Make sure your hips are even when you’re down.  You’re also going to want to be sure your back is straight.” He said as he pushed both hands up her back.  She instinctively straightened it out as he touched her.

“Perfect!” he said stepping away from her.

Penelope felt her face flush and refused to make eye contact with him.

She kept up her repetition until she was sure her legs were going to give out.

She stood to complete the last squat when her ankle did give out, causing her to fall backward.

“Whoa.” Woosung said suddenly when she fell into him.

“You alright?” he asked, helping her steady herself.

“Yeah...my legs just aren’t used to it.” Penelope said, fixing the sweatshirt around her hips.

“But you’re doing it well.”

“Thanks for catching me.” she said quietly.

“No problem.  Told you I wouldn’t let you fall.”

Penelope went home that first night sore, but feeling quite refreshed.

“You’re home late.” Milo commented as soon as she walked in.

“I was at the gym.” she said as she put her purse down on the table.

“That’s good.” Milo said.  He sounded almost sincere and it threw Penelope off a little.

“Yeah, I’m going to go take a shower and then I’ll start dinner.  I have a menu plan my trainer made for me so I’ll be eating off that.  You can look at it and if you want something different let me know and I’ll cook for you first.” Penelope said as she walked to the bedroom.

“I’ll be going out for dinner with a client tonight so I won’t be around.  I’ll probably be gone by the time you get out of the shower. I’ll also probably be home late too so we won’t see each other again until tomorrow night.” Milo told her, looking up at her.

“Alright.  Have fun.” Penelope said as she continued to walk to the bathroom.

She wasn’t even surprised anymore that he wasn’t home.  He was busy with work after all. But more than that, he just seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else than at home.

Penelope couldn’t help as her mind wandered.

Was Woosung like that? Did he have a partner that was actually his partner? Shared joy and fears with, helped through struggles and supported unconditionally?  Or were most men like Milo; cold, inattentive and unsupportive.

Penelope stood in the shower for a long time, letting the heat soothe her sore muscles.

By the time she was finished, Milo was gone as promised.

She set out making her dinner for the night; chicken breast lightly seasoned with steamed veggies and a cup of fresh fruit.

While her food was cooking, she milled around the apartment picking stuff up and reorganizing the shelves that became cluttered over the years.

While she was cleaning, she came across an old picture of her and Milo from college.

She had a happy smile on her face; Milo’s mirroring hers.

It was a smile she hadn’t seen in years and wondered idly if she’d ever see again.

She took a deep breath and hid the picture away again, not wanting the reminder of a time when she was actually happy.  It made her current situation seem even more sad.

(4)

[queermikehanlon]

Birds of Paradise (Stanlon AU)

Summary: Mike is a tattoo apprentice next door to a flower shop, and he needs flowers before his mom’s flight comes in. Now he meets Stanley, the man who runs the shop with the flowers, and is actually kind of cute now that he thinks about it. (It’s chapter one from Mike’s perspective).

Words: 3,891

ao3

A/N: Wow, I posted chapter one on December 20th, 2017 and I’m uploading this one September 28th, 2019. I totally did not mean to leave it this long but I guess I was plagued with all the regular excuses: I got caught up with school work, lost most interest in the fandom, didn’t feel attached to the piece anymore, etcetera. I felt bad for leaving this abandoned, especially when I had half of chapter two written already, I just needed to finish it. I wrote the other half so here it is. Do I have a plan for chapter three? Yes. Do I have anything written? No. I don’t know if or when chapter three will be written but here’s chapter two.

One / Two / Three

Mike didn’t give much thought to the buildings around his work; they were all just the surrounding area and they were buildings that he passed-  a part of his scenery. There was an electronics store, a small music shop, and the flower store, it was all just a part of the day to day that he started living.

When his mom called from the airport in Augusta, and told him that her and his grandmother were on their way to visit, he was frantic. Mike was trying to remember the last time he cleaned his apartment, if he had enough room in the apartment to keep his parents, if he had enough food for dinner, if he left the Chinese take out on the counter where his cat could get it, and shit, the flowers.

(His mother always loved flowers. After his father died when Mike was a teenager he promised himself that he would always get her flowers when he visited back home, when she came down, or on random days when he felt like he should do something nice and he would order them in Derry. It wasn’t something that his mom demanded, or that anyone demanded, but it was his own rule that he planned to stick to for the rest of his life, and the flower store next to his work would help mike put his mind at ease.)

Mike probably wore his anxiousness about the circumstances like a coat, it was all over him: thinking about when his mom and grandma were coming in, how fast he could make his apartment look presentable, how many dishes he left in the sink, how to dodge questions about what his plan was and when he was going to settle down and move out of that small apartment and get a nice house with someone, what time their flight was arriving and how he was going to find enough time to walk back home after work, get his car, and meet them at the airport to pick them up.

He had spent most of the morning working with Richie on some of his sketches and composition. Mike couldn’t tattoo yet because he didn’t have his license and he was just an apprentice at this shop, so his job right now was to help out in any way while Bev and Richie taught him how to tattoo when they had particularly slow or client-less days (they had him start on bananas before they would start making ads out for a free, apprentice done tattoos, so he could learn before permanently defacing someone’s skin). This morning, Richie had gone to mike for suggestion of placement and color choices and Mike helped him. 

After Mike finished, he cleaned up the lobby and the desk and reorganized everything; he kept thinking about everything that he had to deal with when he got home. He thought of everything he absolutely had to do (1) clean the apartment, at least put the dishes in the dishwasher, (2) clean up his bedroom. (His mom and grandma would be sharing his bed and he would sleep on the couch. Mike can’t give them a dirty room with clothes and random things thrown around all over the floor of his bedroom), and (3) get the flowers for them.

Then at lunch time Mike got all of their lunches from the Chinese place a couple blocks away and they all ate lunch together in the breakroom that is just one of the small rooms that they had in the back. One room was Bev’s tattoo room, one was their breakroom, and the last was Mike’s tattoo room (that wasn’t getting much use yet, as he hasn’t started tattooing yet). Richie’s ‘room’ was open and a part of the main lobby so that everyone who went into the tattoo parlor could see him do his work. 

After lunch was Mike’s break, and he decided to get on to his list of must-dos. His break was only fifteen minutes long and he didn’t think he’d have enough time to go home and clean up AND get flowers so he decided to one of two. He could straighten up (more like shove everything either in his closet or under his bed) while he was playing host but he couldn’t put off flowers, so that’s what he did. Mike thanked the lord that there was a florist right next door that he passed by everyday on the way to work.  It worked better than him having to go all the way across town or making phone calls for all of his fifteen minute break.

Mike made his way on the sidewalk, and looked at the building, at the yellowish paint on the outside and the dark, almost army green paint that made the window sill. He had never given the shop much thought; it was just another shop of the many on their street, but now it was a savior in a day where he needed every miracle he could salvage.

The ding of the bell over the door almost distracted Mike from his thoughts until he saw the tall shelves and the green leaves and blotches of pink, yellow, red, and white petals all around the room. 

Mike heard the clang of something setting on the table and he turned to the noise, seeing a man setting a clay pot on the counter that he could see through the door. The guy had hair cropped short and curled a little bit on the top, a green button down with a name curled in embroidery above the breast pocket. He had dirt stained gloves covering his hands. 

The man turned to Mike. “Hi, how can I help you?” 

Mike played with his hands, bending back his knuckles and fidgeting, before he spoke. “My mom and grandma are coming into town for a visit and I need anything you can throw together.”

Was that too much information? Should Mike have just asked for two bouquets?

“Alright,” the guy said. “I can set you up.”

Mike felt something come off his shoulders. At least he could get the flowers for them, if he couldn’t clean and he couldn’t cook something, at least he could keep the promise he made for himself for his mom. The man took off his gloves. “When are they coming in?”

Mike took a breath. “Tonight.” 

Mike leaned over the counter, putting his hands on the cool yellow counter. “They surprised me with a call while they were at the airport and I can’t call 1800 flowers, not after last time.”

Mike tried not to think about the bad time when he was very, very desperate and he did call 1800 flowers and it did not go how he wanted. Mike hoped never to call them again. 

The man nodded his head, which gave Mike a little bit of solace, “Okay, we can do this. Do you know what flowers or what colors they like?”

Mike was relieved, it won’t be the worst thing because mike will get the flowers, he’ll find a way to clean the apartment, he’ll manage to fix something good to eat, and he’ll make sure that everything goes well between now and when they board their plane back. And, the man behind the counter asked the question that Mike definitely knew the answer to.

“My mom likes irises and the color yellow and my grandma likes all the small pink flowers- that I do know.”

The man behind the counter smiled, it was small and not forced, like he was smiling at mike. Mike smiled in return and tapped his fingers on the counter.

“Yeah, we can do that. Give me a quick minute to pull out some stuff from the back and let’s see what we can make up, yeah?”

Mike nodded and let himself rest for just a second, leaning over the counter and putting his upper body weight on his elbows.

The man with the curly hair disappeared into the back of the door through a beige swinging door and Mike waited.

Behind the counter (and around the store) were mostly shelves of small flower pots with flowers working to take up space around the store. There was also a piece of framed pink paper, but the writing was too faint for Mike to read. There was a photograph, framed in an old gold decorative frame; It was a picture of what looked to be two young boys in a garden. Mike can’t see the boys faces but one has curly hair down past his jaw, so Mike assumes it’s pictures of the man, the guy who works at this little flower shop. 

There were empty pots altogether, different than the ones that the flowers were held in.  These were more decorative and had little designs carved into them. They had a little sign in the middle that said, ‘you want one of these pots to be your own? ask for details!’

The door suddenly swung open and there he was, arms full of cup sized, plastic pots of flowers, ones like he described to the flower shop man. “It was two bouquets, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Mike choked out.

The man sat down all the little pots on the counter and Mike leaned in closer to have a better look at the flowers. The man began separating them into groups, by the colors Mike could see what the man- a quick look at his name tag- Stanley, was thinking. “This is what I’m thinking: we have the irises and we have the yellow pansies to make the purple stand out. Then we have some orange poppies to make the blue in the irises stand out. We just need something white or cream colored to make all the other colors stand out.”

Mike understood what he was saying. The color theory and the complements of colors, it was all basic information that was in the back of his head as an artist. Wait- “Aren’t there flowers that look like this-” Mike left his fingers brush against the yellow flowers, the pansies- “but, like, smaller and cream colored? I think I did a piece with them a few weeks ago. Johnny somethings.”

“Johnny Jump Ups.” Stanley said almost immediately. “I think I have some of them, not a lot of people ask for them. Let me check.”

Back through the door he went and Mike watched him go. This Stanley sure is cute, he thought without realizing. Then realizing, mike took in the thought and let it simmer until Stanley came back through the door with another tiny flower.

“These are perfect.” He showed Mike the tiny flowers. He was right in his memory of the flowers, small, white and they looked like the yellow pansies but an off white with light purple faded on the ends of each petal. Stanley was right. With the other flowers, the Johnny Jump Ups were perfect in composition. “They’re small enough to fill up space but pretty enough they’re not out of place.”

“Yeah, I did a few flashes with them, I got used to drawing them.” With the florist’s confused look, Mike explained. “I’m an apprentice at the tattoo parlor next door, it was such a relief to have this shop next door with them coming to town.”

“Oh, yeah cool. I guess you do a lot of flower stuff.”

Mike laughed. That fact was true. Even though he mostly helps with drawings and compositions he has drawn a lot more flowers since getting a job at the parlor next door. “Yeah, almost once a day, probably even more once I’m not an apprentice and I’m a fully licensed artist.”

“That’s really cool.” 

Mike smiled at the man in front of him. Along with cute, the florist was sweet. This didn’t feel like a transaction only conversation. It felt like Mike was talking to a friend, or a more than friend. 

“And for your grandma’s set I was thinking these peonies with the carnations and the light purple petunias. It’s a lot softer than the other one.”

“You thought of all of that on the spot back there?” Mike asked, curious. “Are you a wizard?”

“Yes. The flower wizard, making sure that everyone has something pretty.” Cute, sweet, and funny. 

“Good, I would only trust a flower wizard to make these bouquets.” Stanley let out a little laugh before he paused. 

“So you like the idea? The flowers all together?”

Mike nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, it’s amazing, perfect, thank you.”

Stanley behind the counter reached out for a pad of paper, and began writing, what Mike assumed what his order was. After scribbling for a moment, Stanley spoke again. “Can I get your name?”

“Michael. Mike Hanlon.”

“Alright, I’ll get this form all filled out for you. You said they were coming in tonight, when will you need them by?”

Mike stopped. He didn’t want Stanley to quit everything to work on his. He didn’t want to be a disruption. “Don’t drop other stuff to get mine done quickly. I don’t want you to-“

Stanley stopped him quick enough. “Mike, it’s two bouquets. I can do them pretty quick. What time do you need them done?”

Mike thought about it. Mike got off work at six o’clock on the dot. The plane arrived at 6:45 so he would want to leave as soon as he got off work, but he had a ten or fifteen minute leeway if he wanted to clean a little bit before he left for the airport. “I can come by before 6, or you could drop them off in the parlor considering that our door goes into my room.”

“I always wondered what I’d find on the other side. I guess I didn’t want to accidentally run into something awkward or something.”

Mike laughed. It felt like the conversation was coming to and end and Mike didn’t want that end to come. Maybe Mike could see Stanley again when he didn’t need flowers, maybe to dinner, a date perhaps? “Just little ol’ me. Thank you so much for doing this, on such short notice.”

“It’s no problem, honestly. I’m just going to need your phone number to complete the order form.” Mike felt a little smirk grow on his face and he spoke before he could really think through the words coming out of his mouth.

“And not for yourself? I’m hurt.”

Stanley smiled back at him. “I guess I’ll have to use it for myself too then, just so that your feelings aren’t hurt.” 

That was a step in a good direction. Mike threw a little more into the flirting. “Good. It’d be a shame if I find this cute guy and he wouldn’t call me on a professional courtesy.”

“Well, what is that phone number?” Mike told him the phone number, and read the paper Stnaley was writing on to make sure it was written down correctly. Mike pulled out his phone and opened a new contact page. When Stanley looked up from the notepad, Mike held out his phone to him.

“How will I know it’s the cute flower shop guy who’s calling me and not one of my clients?”

Stanley took the phone and began typing. “I guess I can give it to you then, just so you don’t get confused with one of your clients and not so you can text me later and ask me to hang out.”

Mike’s mood couldn’t be lifted any further than it is now. “Or something else?”

“Or something else,” Stanley agreed. He went back to the order forms and ripped one copy, the yellow copy, from the white copy. “These are your receipts.”

When Stanley held out the piece of paper for Mike to grab, mike made is so that their fingers brushed against each other. “Thank you for doing this, Stanley; it means a lot.”

“Stan,” Stanley, or Stan corrected. “or Stanley, if you prefer.”

“Okay, Stan. I think my break’s about to end soon, so I should probably be getting back before they fire me or something.” Mike pulled out his wallet and paid for his flowers after looking at the price on his receipt. After he finished and everything was finished up, Stan spoke up.

“I’ll be by. Before six, that’s what you said?”

“Yeah, thank you so much for this.”

Stan chuckled. “It’s my job to make bouquets, you don’t have to thank me.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have to thank you.” Mike glanced at his watch, then made sure to finish up before he was supposed to be back to work. “Now I really have to go, but I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.”

<hr>

It was almost quitting time. Mike was drawing some flashes and waiting for Stan to come by like he said he would. Every few minutes Mike would glance at the door that was the barrier between his room and what supposedly was the backroom to Stan’s flower shop. 

Mike heard a quick knock knock on his door then heard the creak of the hinges. “Mikey? You gotta visitor!”

Mike looked up and then saw Stan behind Beverly. Stan stood there in the same uniform as before, except in his hands he held flower bouquets. Seeing Stan again made him smile- even though he only met the man that day and there wasn’t anything mind-blowing or earth shattering about their interaction that afternoon. “Thanks Bevvie.”

Beverly stood there and waited. Stan walked through the door, standing beside Beverly rather than behind her. Mike put his pencil down and faced them. With a little push towards his friend, he spoke.“You can leave now, Bev.”

“Maybe I want to stay and watch the show. Stanley wouldn’t mind, would you, Stanley?”

Mike stood up and stood facing Bev. He put his hand out and slightly pushed Bev back out of the doorway. He put a smile on his face and used his fingers to wave goodbye to her as he closed the door. Her face was priceless, as long as she knew him, she had never seen him with someone.

“Y’all best not be fucking when I check on you!” She shouted.

“Yeah, Bev’s not the kindest one in the bunch she’s cool.” Mike said, rubbing the skin on the back of his neck, a little embarrassed by his boss and good friend.

“Yeah, I know. I’m friends with her boyfriend.” Stan told him. He shot a questioning glance then shook it away. Mike had only met Bev’s boyfriend a few times, and they didn’t really talk. It was when he came by to eat lunch with Bev or the one day he got romantic and brought her a bouquet of flowers. She said he was like that all the time. “Oh, here are your flowers!”

Mike almost forgot that Stan was here to do his job and deliver flowers. “Oh yeah.”

Mike took the flowers from Stan’s hands and held them up and looked at them. They looked amazing; better than the last florist he went to when he still loved across town. “These look better than what you made in the shop. How do you do it?”

Stan smiled. “I thought we talked about that, I’m a flower wizard.”

“Oh right of course.”

Mike sat in his chair, which he rolled so that he was closer to Stan. Mike watched as Stan looked around the room, then later at the drawings he had around his desk. 

“You did all those drawings? They’re amazing.” Stan stood up from his seat and stepped closer to look at the drawings. Objectively, Mike knew he was a good artist, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone into the profession of professional person who did mostly permanent art, but he still felt a little shy about people complimenting him on his artwork.

“Thanks,” Mike said. Before he backed out and lost the courage he thought he had, he opened up the conversation. “I actually wanted to ask you something?”

Stan turned away from the drawings and faced Mike. Mike looked at his face and he felt more nervousness bubble in his stomach.“Yeah, sure, ask away.”

Mike bit his lip, and began fidgeting with his hands, his index finger was scratching at his thumb. He was nervous because what if there was a rejection under their previous conversations. What if Stan didn't want the same things as him?

“Maybe, if you’re free and if you wanted to, you want to go see a movie with me? Maybe Friday night?”

Stan held a small smile. “Are you asking me out on a date, Mike?”

Mike’s stomach dropped in fear. Did Mike misread all the flirting they had that afternoon? Did Stan not like guys?Did Stan not want this? “Did I read this the wrong way or?”

“No,” Stan said quickly. ”No, just making sure. I want to go on a date with you. I think we’d have a fun time.”

Mike shoulders dropped and a smile spread across his face in the acceptance. “Okay, cool, yeah.”

Stan and Mike waited in the room in silence, a comfortable one. Mike was glad he met Stan, and was happy that Stan agreed to go on a date with him. Mike felt good, almost a better happy then the satisfied content he'd been feeling for a while.

“I should probably get going back to my store.” Stan spoke softly. Mike took a deep breath. He didn’t want Stan to leave so quickly, but then again, Mike had a lot of things to get done before the night was over. “I think maybe you should use my number when you figure out what movie we’re going to see.”

“Yeah, I definitely will.” Mike was already going through what he knew was playing at the theatre, what he thought would make a good date night movie, and one the thought Stan would like.

Stan reached his hand out and touched Mike’s shoulder. Mike could feel the fingers around his muscle and the contact set him on the edge of his seat. “I guess I’ll see you on Friday?”

Mike became a little bolder, “Not unless I visit tomorrow.”

Stan smirked. “The store’s usually slowest in the morning, just for future reference.”

A knock came at the door and Mike jumped at the sudden noise. Then he heard his sweet, dear friend (a friend whom he might kill later), Bev’s voice come through the door. “Boys! What’s going on in there?”

Stan walked closer to the door and put his hand on the door knob and let him turn the knob and open the door to Beverly who had her ear pressed to the door. When the door was away from her face, she slowly stood up straight. “Have you been standing here the whole time?”

“No,” Beverly stated, very quick with her response. she shrugged. “You think I’d waste my time eavesdropping on my dear, dear friends?”

“Yes,” Mike answered. “You definitely would.”

Stan walked past her and turned around to Mike. “You’ll text me later?”

Mike nodded his head with a smile and Beverly looked between them with her head turning back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. Stan laughed at her.

“Well, I’ll see you later then.”

[universalfanfic]

*tears streaming down my face*

I ... did it. ... I wrote something. There is relief in my soul. 

Here is my continuation of @gracieinanovel‘s Wedding Planner AU, because I love it and I needed to join in. :) 

Cora belongs to her, of course. 

Sutton froze over the table, fingers reaching, and Cora wasn’t sure if the woman had meant to try and flee the room or attempt strangling her. Her face was blooming the most vibrant red, and it appeared it took some effort to remove her tongue from the roof of her mouth. 

“Steve!” Sutton finally managed to squeak. “Hi. I’m- I’m good. You? I mean, how have you been?”

“Good. Good.”

Cora almost felt bad about springing this on her. Almost. But if Sutton had gone the entirety of her Paris trip without contacting Steve, then this was on her. She obviously needed a push. 

Steve still looked morose and longing as he shifted further into the room. It must have still been raining, because he looked just as wet as Cora did coming in. 

“Perhaps Steve would like a drink?” Cora prompted. 

Sutton jumped at the direction and opportunity to have something to do. 

“Right; of course! I have some coffee. Coffee good?” 

There was a coffee pot behind the counter; it was still half full and probably should be either poured out or drank before it burned. 

“Do you want a sweet too,” she called out over pouring a mug. “I have a new cupcake-” 

“Oh, just coffee is fine. Thank you.”

Steve rubbed his hand through his wet hair and pulled a chair over to their table. Sutton’s expression flickered before settling back on a forced smile. 

“Ok.” 

Cora internally groaned. 

Watching them interact was like watching two junior highers dance around each other. She’d thought after Steve’s confession things would move forward between them, but Sutton’s doubts about his sincerity and then her internship felt like it’d dragged them three steps back again. 

But there was time for the both of them later. Cora reorganized the paperwork she’d brought and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. This was still a business meeting, after all.

They ought to get something done.

Sutton sat awkwardly between Steve and Cora, unable to scoot her chair away from him without being obvious, and she passed over his mug as she cleared her throat. 

“So, you probably know who the wedding is for.”

“I might,” he said. “But I might have also signed a non-disclosure.”

Both Cora and Sutton groaned in response. 

“I suppose that just leaves us to figure out the details,” Cora relented. “So, which rooms will we be using, and what are our times?”

They discussed timing and plans and room ambiance. The wedding ceremony was going to be held on the main balcony overlooking the bay, with plenty of twinkling lights and foliage covering the space. The reception would be held in the estates most lavish room, fondly referred to as The Fondue Room due to the high rental costs. 

Eventually, one of them yawned and they noticed the time. The rain had pittered to a spitting mist and the moon rose higher. Sutton collected their empty mugs while Cora collected her files.

“Well, that’s more progress,” she said, forced cheer in her voice. 

Steve and Sutton both nodded, sneaking a look at each other before turning away again quickly. 

“I guess we’ll see each other at the wedding.” Sutton glanced between the pair, rubbing nervously at her sore knuckles. “Unless Fury gives you a free moment before then,” she added hopefully, directed towards Cora.

“Oh, I wish, but I’m afraid I can’t count on it.” Cora smiled ruefully. “You know how Fury is, and with this wedding booked he’s been more frantic than usual. Obviously, because I’m here at this time of night.”

Sutton looked disappointed, but not surprised. 

“I’m telling you,” she said, “you have to start your own business. You’ve got the talent for it, and it’s probably the only way you’ll get your freedom.” 

Cora made a face and shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she said. “At the rate I’m working, anyway, it’d be impossible to find the time.” 

Steve cleared his throat and Sutton finally looked at him, shifting on her feet. 

“It, uh, was nice seeing you again too. Steve.” 

“Yeah. You’ll have to tell me about your trip sometime.” 

“Right, sure!”

Cora winced, but luckily the expression went unnoticed by the other two. She and Steve exited together and Sutton bid them both a goodnight, locking up before moving through the shop to prep for another early morning. 

The quiet night air settled around them and Steve let out a long sigh as he ran his hand through his hair again. 

“Well,” he said, “that… happened.” 

Cora placed a hand on his arm. 

“Hey, everything is going to work out.”

“Three months,” he said. “I just- is it because we-?”

“What? Went on one date?” Cora laughed lightly. “Steve, please. Sutton can just be a nervous person. She thinks-”

At her pause Steve looked over, his eyes prompting her to continue, and Cora shook her head. 

“You both will have to talk if you want this worked out. Now, I better get at least a couple hours of sleep before Fury decides to blow my phone up again. I’ll see you at the wedding.” 

Steve sighed and dug in his pocket for his keys. 

“Drive safe,” he said. 

He waited until Cora was in her car with the doors locked before he started up his own car. Their headlights disappeared into the night and the low lights in the bakery popped off shortly afterwards.

[]

The bell in the shop rung as Sutton pushed open the door to Banner’s Botanicals; the smell of soil and fragrant flowers were heady in the air. 

“I’ll be one moment!”

“Take your time, Bruce.”

A head of dark wavy hair popped up from behind a shelving unit holding some sort of flowering cacti, and Sutton reached her hand up to wave.

“Long time, no see. Not going to lie. I thought you were really done for good this time.”

Bruce Banner pushed around some nearby ferns as he made his way to the front of the shop. 

“Hey Sutton,” he said. “So did I. But apparently I can still be coerced.” 

He frowned at that, and Sutton suppressed a wry smile. Bruce could be stubborn, sure, but he was also a bit of a peacekeeper. It took quite a bit to actually get him to explode. 

“I’m guessing they at least weren’t asking for lil-” “Don’t.” He cut in sharply. “Don’t mention the lilies.”

Sutton held her hands up in surrender and chuckled. 

“Ok. But I would like to see what they did ask for. I’m supposed to incorporate some floral aspects into their cake.” 

He sent her a look before letting out a breath of air and waving her to follow him to the back of the shop. 

“You and Cora,” he said. “You know there’s a thing called email? You can attach pictures? Or maybe even use google?”

“Sure,” said Sutton. “But this gets us out of our offices for a bit. And anyway, isn’t technology just ruining face-to-face interactions?” 

Bruce rolled his eyes.

The further back in the shop, the more expensive the plants got. And for a man who’d sworn to only work with succulents from now on, he sure had a selection of flowers at his disposal. 

“The bride wanted whimsical but elegant,” he said. “And for once, there was even a list of suggestions to work from. We decided on white wisteria, some assorted peonies, and a few gardenias sprinkled throughout. And greenery, of course. I’m thinking mostly ferns. Probably some Israeli Ruscus.”

Sutton ooh-ed over the samples and took out her phone to get some pictures. His selection of plants were second-to-none. No doubt that was the reason this mystery couple chose him. And they certainly had some cash on them, because he was making an example bouquet as well. 

“Can I get a few small samples to take back? Are you still selling individual stems?”

“Do you have any samples?”

Bruce flashed her a cheeky grin and Sutton returned it. 

“All my friends are opportunists,” she lamented. Still, she pulled a small paper box out of her purse and taunted him with it. “I thought you might like some inspiration as well.” 

They exchanged goods, one looking a tad more excited than the other. Sutton sighed as she eyed the delicate petals and the complicated layering of the wisteria. 

“I might be ordering some of these from you. Their order expressly stated little to no fondant on the cake. And these?”

She made a tsk-ing sound against her teeth and shook her head. Bruce spared her a pitying glance until he looked back to his set of cupcakes, and grinned. 

“At least you know they have good taste. Fondant is gross.”

Sutton raised a stern pointer finger as she sucked in a breath.

“Ok, listen-” 

[]

Cora nibbled at her bottom lip as she used a spare, quiet moment to do some personal research. It wasn’t that this particular wedding was giving her an odd feeling, she’d worked a few weddings that had demanded discretion, but generally she could accurately guess who it was for. 

There wasn’t anything in the celebrity gossip tabloids that mentioned possible weddings coming up, no matter how thoroughly she looked. Boo. She supposed she’d just have to wait for the big day to find out the big secret. She pouted and drummed her fingers on her laptop as the digging stopped at a dead end. 

Her notebook was just to the left of her computer and she could see that name amongst the rest of her notes. 

Loki Laufeyson.

She still didn’t understand how one person could’ve garnered such a negative reaction out of Sutton, and so far she hadn’t had the opportunity to really pry into why. Cora cocked one eyebrow and tilted her head as her fingers danced over her keyboard.

Well, she still had a moment. Why not look?

His website was sleek and clean, with accents of dark green and gold adding a sense of wealth and elegance to the layout. He was the sort of wedding coordinator that you had to call to ask about his rates, which generally meant the average person shouldn’t even bother. 

From his gallery, it seemed he’d been involved in some high profile weddings and other various events. Cora hummed. There wasn’t anything that she could glean from his about page to give her any hints.

Even if he was wildly arrogant and obnoxious, Sutton probably would have just said he was a character, or annoying. 

“Are you sitting? At a time like this?”

Cora jumped at Fury’s voice as he swept into the room, camera bags and a tripod precariously cradled in his arms. 

“Do you know how many jobs we have to complete? There’s the party on the seventeenth, the charity event coming up, and that mo-”

“Yes,” Cora cut in. “The wedding, I know.” She hopped up and closed her notebook, gathering all her things and making herself busy. “I have everything under control, sir.”

Fury shot her a piercing look, which was always impressive given he only had one eye. 

“Under control isn’t good enough. This wedding could be what really launches this business into the public eye. Everything has to be perfect. Which is why you’re going to meet up with that Laufeyson and get all the details sorted out. Got it?”

Cora wanted to give him a flippant salute, but she still did need the paycheck. Instead, she grit her teeth behind closed lips and forced a smile. 

“Crystal clear, sir.” 

Well, perhaps she’d get some answers about this guy sooner than she thought.

[whiskeyworen]

Sonnya - Feline Friend

It felt good to be home again.

It had been so long since Sonnya had walked the familiar, symmetrically aligned, mathematically perfect cobble of Rata Sum. The gentle thrum and throb of energy conduits in the walls, in displays. The glorious golden sun leeching through the habitat illuminator passages, filling the Asuran city with natural glow. She couldn't help but pause for a moment near a planned waterfall, listening to the water flowing down over the specially-shaped platforms into the depths below. Someone had once told her that the positioning of the platforms the water met on its way down was set up to maximize the relaxing sound of the crashing falls without the need for dramatic splash, as well as to increase vaporization as the water misted every time it hit a platform.

She breathed deep, the petrichor scent making her smile. Sonnya personally loved that earthy, fresh smell. Almost as much as she loved the smell of ozone from electrical arcing. Just the scent of either reminded her of the amazing storms that sometimes swept through Maguuma, and the lightning she got to see. Natural lightning was so very different from the kind elementalists threw around. There was just...something...about a natural lightning strike that put one in awe.

The hustle and bustle of the city had not diminished in her absence. Citizens still walked the street, heading for personal destinations, or just relaxed, chatting amicably. The Peacemakers still patrolled the streets; you never knew when someone's lab experiment might 'get loose', or when lab drama might spill over. Sonnya wandered the streets, sidestepping apprentices that ran pell-mell between krewes. With a chuckle, she noted just how many had a frantic, terrified look on their faces. She remembered being an apprentice too, so long ago. How many years had it been?

Still, Rata Sum was a living city. A city full of a people that never liked to just sit still and never change. And so, the city itself was changing. When she'd arrived, she'd already noted that the exterior size of the city had expanded another hundred acres or so; new layers were being added to the outer edges of the city as it expanded and reconfigured internally. There had been a news report on the 'ticker' she had passed by; something about adapting the Rata Novan style of fiber-optic cabling to bring light inside to the city. From the jist of it, the Arcane Council was concerned that as the city, expanded, the illuminator passages would grow too long to permit proper internal lighting. To save cost, they were going to fill a number of the passages with optic cable.

It wasn't a bad idea, but she hoped they wouldn't entirely PLUG the holes with fiber optics; part of the wonderful part about Rata Sum was that those tunnels also permitted air circulation, and kept the air in the city fresh and clean. Maybe a partial fill would be suggested? Sonnya made a note mentally to send her Statics representative on the council a suggestion. It might not mean anything, but at least she'd have tried.

There were other changes, of course. Old bars and shops had closed down, to be replaced in turn by new shops and bars. Her old drinking hangout from college had been turned into a toy shop for progeny looking to build golems. That was a disappointment, but such was life.

As she turned the corner of a support pillar near Research Point, she blinked in surprise. Without realizing it, her new optic gear immediately had highlighted an unusual object in her vision. It was a simple book cart but... it wasn't Asuran made. It looked almost Krytan. Maybe Norn, but if it was Norn it was on the small size.

"Interesting..." She said thoughtfully, slowly walking up to it. There were at least a hundred books, maybe more, stacked chaotically on its shelves. The Obsessive-Compulsive cleaner in her instantly wanted to reorganize and straighten everything, and it took Sonnya a moment to reign in her instinct, instead settling on picking up a book.

It was a simple thing, bound in pressed wood-fiber rather than the traditional leather, but the reason for that became immediately clear. The fanciful, adorably cute, chubby cat on the cover, with his bright yellow eyes, monocle, and little bowler hat, dancing with an equally adorable quaggan pup was evidence enough; it was a child's book. " 'Chauncey and His Pal... Shooshadoo?' " Sonnya read aloud, more amused than anything else. It was not what she expected at all. The name of the quaggan rang a bell, but she couldn't put her finger on why. She couldn't help it. She flicked through the well-loved book, and felt a moment of nostalgic glee, remembering instantly what it felt like to read books like this when she was just a little one. There was a pang of sadness there too; Sonnya had so far passed that little tyke that she had been once, that she had almost forgotten those things that made her happy back then. With reluctance, she put the book down, and reached slowly for another. Surprisingly, it too, was another progeny's reader. This one was 'Chauncey and the Plush Pillar', a silly tale about the cat heading north to see, of all things, a big pillar covered in what seemed to be soft wool. The picture of the cat, done up in a fluffy, poofy winter parka, staring up in obvious awe at the pillar, eyes wide in a very recognizable 'I'm gonna claw that' expression, made her giggle in spite of herself. Was this cart nothing but children's books? Sonnya wondered a bit, reaching for another, then another book. It seemed it must be, which was fine with her; the progeny in Rata Sum should read something other than texts and manuals, after all. Let them have their childhood. There was a book cracked open under another one near the front end of the cart, where the tow bars were. She eased it out from under the pinning book and looked at it. The cover was ruined, unfortunately; whatever artwork had been on it had been scoured away by age and neglect. Flipping it open to a random page, she expected to see more child-level language, but was surprised to see what appeared to be a partial treatise on ley-line magical 'intoxication' and abberation in living things poisoned by ley energy. It was written in a dramatic prose, like some kind of hard, realistic novel, even though there were only a dozen or so pages to the book! "What the Cog?..." Sonnya muttered, puzzled, as she flicked back and forth through the pages, skimming text. Most of the pages were ruined too; entire segments had been washed away or scoured away, leaving a few words here or there. "What IS this?" "Having fun reading?" A voice playfully purred from somewhere above her. With a start, Sonnya stepped back, her eyes flaring blue as the optics flicked on again, isolating the speaker. It was... another Asura. She was lounging on top of the flat top of the book cart, one arm hanging lazily off the edge while the other propped her chin up. She smiled at Sonnya, and flicked the her hand that was hanging off the edge a little. "Well? Were you enjoying my collection?" There was something distinctly feline about her, Sonnya decided immediately. Everything from her posture on the cart, to the shape of her eyes and irises (were those contacts or was she born with slit eyes?), to the very coloration of the spots on her face screamed 'CAT'. Well, that and the pair of kitty ears attached to the headband the woman had on. That kind of was a giveaway too.

"I-uh." Sonnya stammered for a second, glancing down at the book in her hand. "Well, yeah, I suppose? They reminded me of when I was little. It was....nice to look at them. You know?" She tapped an armored finger on the cover of the book she still had in her hands. "But... this one doesn't seem to belong. I mean, if this is a cart of kids books, this one is...well... it seems more like it was meant for an older reader?" The cart owner rolled lazily off the roof, dropping with practiced ease onto her feet with an economy of motion that was quite impressive. She seemed to move like she was more like a fluid than a person. Once again, Sonnya was struck by how very feline that made her seem. Feline grace? She found herself attributing to this individual.

She meeped, jaw snapping shut as the cart owner suddenly sidled up to her, very much in her personal space, to take a look at the text in the book. By 'very much', she actually hooked an arm around Sonnya's armoured shoulders and leaned against her while looking at the book. "Hmm?... Oh yes, that one. Hehe. No, that's a kiddy's kitty book too."

Almost as an afterthought, she turned her head and looked at Sonnya directly. "Oh, I'm Netto, by the by."

Too close too close too close! was all that ran through Sonnya's mind. She could actually see her own heart rate skyrocket in the corner of her vision, because this Netto was almost nose to nose with her. What kind of person gets that close to a perfect stranger?? At the same time, a small part of her realized Sonnya herself wasn't remotely trying to step back to a safer 'personal space' distance. Which raised all kinds of questions in her own mind. Deal with that later!

"I-uh... I'm Sonnya?" She blinked awkwardly, ears back. "But... what do you mean, this is a kid's book?" Netto chuckled and slid around in front of her, clasping the book, and by chance, both of Sonnya's mailed hands (and causing another instant skyrocket heartrate), and began turning the pages, using Sonnya's hands like puppets. "Because it is. You didn't read far enough yet!"

She made Sonnya turn to one of the last pages, where, sure enough, there was a partial image of a very proud looking black and white cat, with hat and monocle standing before a very sneaky looking grey cat. Chauncey, once again. "See? There's Chauncey, and Shadow."

Sonnya's jaw dropped for the second time in as many minutes. How could something the seemed so seriously written be for mere progeny? "I...don't understand. This is a child's book? But the rest of the text in it that I can read is..."

Netto sighed, taking the book out of her hands, and closing it. She stroked the cover sadly. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't seem like the others. But it was written by the same author as the others! I think this might have been an attempt to break into a more 'adult' market, like tweens or young teenagers."

She pursed her lips, frowning. "This is the only copy I've been able to find so far. And it spent ITS time in a water-logged basement in Beetletun."

"It's that rare?"

Netto shrugged. "Maybe. Yes? No? I might find a better copy some day, but until then, this one is gonna stay in my collection." She waved a hand idly at the cart. "The others are all mass-produced regularly, so I can actually sell those. This one... is more for me." She smiled. "And to tempt people into reading more, like you!"

Before she could say anything, Netto was right up in her face again, eyes bright. "So, does that mean you like cats too? I mean, you were reading all through my Chauncey series!"

"Y-yes. I do like cats." Sonnya admitted nervously, blinking. "I can't own one though. I don't have a residence. And they don't let pets stay in Vigil Keep." She paused for a second, thinking, before shrugging. "except ranger pets. But those are different."

"Aw, that's such a shame! Cats are the best!" Netto spun away, the book clutched to her chest, before she put it back on the cart. "What was the first book you read here? Was it 'Plush Monolith'?"

"Uh, no, I think it was... Shooshadoo? Yes, it was Shooshadoo." Sonnya began to step closer, ready to point it out.

"Shooshadoo! One of my favorites!" Netto exclaimed gleefully. She was immediately back to hanging off Sonnya's shoulder, while she held up the book. "Every time I read this, I think of all the little adventures I used to dream up when I was little!"

Netto was so close she was almost talking directly into Sonnya's ear, which she desperately tried not to flick up or down or anything like that. She really hoped the cart owner couldn't see her blush, because of how close she was. If there was one thing in the world Sonnya wasn't used to, it was physical closeness like this. Especially from someone so... emotionally 'personable'. "Y-yeah. Me too. It made me think of when I was little and I'd read to my sisters." "Aw, that's so cute!" Netto purred, giving her shoulder an affectionate shake. She leaned in conspiratorially, this time actually whispering into Sonnya's ear. "Tell ya what. Because this book is both of our favorites, I'm gonna do something naughty."

"Naughty?" Sonnya squeaked, swallowing heavily. Netto's eyes were locked on her, and there was a deviousness buried there. "Like... what?"

"I'm going to give you the book." She whispered, carefully placing the book into Sonnya's hand and making sure to close her fingers over it. "Free of charge. From one cat fan to another. One nostalgia to another."

"You're just...giving it to me?" Sonnya asked, her puzzlement coloring her voice. She stared at the book now in her grasp. "But...why?"

"Because I saw the way your face lit up when you realized what you were reading." Netto explained, smiling. "And because it looked like you hadn't been happy in a while." She cocked her head to the side, the kitty ears almost seeming to twitch in thought along with her real ears. "I saw you walking around, and the smile you had on before was nice, but kind of surface-y. But the moment you started reading this book."

She grinned broadly, and moved in front of her. "It was like you became a whole other person."

Sonnya actually ducked her head in embarrassment at that. There was no way she was going to hide her blush at a comment like that. "Well... thanks. I feel a bit silly though, taking a kids book and adding it to my library."

Netto's smile faded and she looked Sonnya squarely in the eye. "There's nothing wrong with hanging on to the things that make you happy. The one thing people forget is how to BE happy. They think that they need to abandon the trappings of childhood to become an adult." She shook her head. "Even I did that, until I realized that the things that made me happy also helped balance me as an adult. We all need to decompress, to release and feel simple, happy, and free."

Her smile returned, and she swung an arm back at the book cart. "I realized I only needed to let my love of cats come to light, and not be shamed by such a 'childish impulse', to be happy. Now I collect and sell kitty books to kids...adults..." she said the word meaningfully, tapping the cover of the book. "...to make them happy as well. I also collect cat-related items, just for fun!"

"Cat related articles?" Sonnya repeated. She was still trying to process Netto's rather profound speech about maturity. It made sense, on some level...but could she pull it off too? Could she just...let go and be free like that? It felt almost impossible.

Netto reached up with both hands and tugged on her kitty headband's ears. "Like these! And statues, toys, holos, furniture!" She laughed. "Oh, if you were to see my residence... It's literally all cat now." "That sounds... actually kinda fun." Sonnya admitted, smiling. She tried to picture the typical asuran hab residence, all done up some how with cat related materials. "Kinda wish I could see it."

There was a momentary pause as Netto looked at her, considering her as if for the first time. "Well, in that case, how long are you in town, little miss Vigil?" That really caught Sonnya offguard. She hadn't expected a question like that at all. "Uh, I'm actually on extended leave. This is actually my first day back in Rata Sum... I haven't even arranged for lodging yet."

That glint was back in Netto's eyes, and it made Sonnya's heart skip a beat. Oh no. What is she planning?

"Interesting." Netto purred again. She tapped a finger against her lips, chuckling. "Well, it just so happens I have a spare room. It hasn't been cat-ified yet, but if you are up to it, you can bunk with me. Then I can show you all the different kitty-related things I've got. How does that sound?"

"You'd be willing to take in a perfect stranger?" Sonnya asked, unsure.

Netto shrugged blithely, raising an eyebrow. "You're Vigil. Don't come much more upstanding than that, am I right?"

"True, there IS that." Sonnya admitted, running a finger down the cover of the book while she thought. "Well... if you're offering..."

"And I am..." Netto supplied, smirking a bit.

"...Then I accept your offer." She tapped the book. "Both your offers, I mean. Including this gift."

Netto grinned and clapped her hands happily. "Wonderful. Simply wonderful."

She darted over to the cart and pulled a small device out, before stepping back to a safe distance. "Just let me lock down the cart, and we'll be off."

Before Sonnya could ask what she meant by 'lock down', Netto pressed a button on the device, and eight little pyramids shot out of the device, surrounding the cart. Once positioned, they seemed to link up with lasers, before reflective barriers were erected, sealing the cart in. "Just a bit of security. I don't like having to pack and unpack the cart every time I want to go do something or have a bite to eat. So I made this little projector set."

She offered Sonnya a grin over her shoulder. "The projectors are on the inside of the barrier, so you can't just break them on the outside. Gotta use the remote for that."

Putting the remote in her pocket, Netto slid back over to Sonnya and linked elbows with her, beginning to drag her off. "Now! Let's go show you your new room, roomie!" --- Writer’s note: There really was no purpose for this story. I was wandering around Rata Sum and found Netto, made some screenshots, had an impulsive story idea, and wrote it out. It’s not part of my canon...but it could be? I’m not sure. I usually don’t like using ‘real characters’ from the game as direct contacts with my own. Especially not hinting ships. Too high a chance of friggin’ Mary Sue-ing things. But this felt cute, so I did it. I still haven’t honestly decided what Sonnya’s interests are, so this could totally be true. XD What say you, reader? Should I make this part of my story world’s canon? Or leave it as a cute one-shot?

[cgbraincell]

this is such a long post

Although the SD card in my phone continues to fill with a great deal of pictures of geckos, the past couple weeks have been wholly exhausting and I have not had much in the way of shareable thought. My Visiting Friend gave me some pointers and encouragement about fixing up my space, and I started making some progress there. It is relieving in a way to not see my past life’s work staring me down, a continuous reminder of what I still owe. The freedom may allow me to move forward sooner rather than later and take care of my debts from another source of income, which is what I suppose I need at this point. My Oft Mentioned Friend has proclaimed the September Garage Sale, Yard Sard if you will, is on, so in addition to cleaning, reorganizing, tossing stuff, etc, I have had a renewed energy to continue to find things to put into that. Am making some good progress there.

Much of my focus had a clear starting point as well, as I have purchased a new metal wire shelving unit to replace my bookshelf with and get some better enclosures set up for my overstock of cresties (although Saturn has a pending home for October - he is now Chaos as his pending owner will be receiving him and a leo named Charisma...ironically “Chaos” is the less chaotic of the two). In a sort of bittersweet event, my knocking over and breaking of my tv has given me a little extra space to work with for the time being. I still feel very bad about that as it ended up being a birthday present from Dad. I’d be mad at myself if I wasted my own money but...just feel bad since it was his. I have not been using it much during the summer since I would primarily use it for gaming and the room gets too warm to justify turning on a console, but still. Some critter updates: Alduin is indeed approaching all others with the “Make Love, Not War” approach. So I have my gay gecko and pansexual gecko-who-thinks-he-is-a-dragon. He also decided earlier that “Pillow Mountain” was inadequate, and climbed up the blanket hung on the wall up to the ceiling, where he could observe what he believes to be his land. The fool. This is Eddie’s domain, her Queendom. He is merely a knight in her land.

“Buddy” is female. I am very quickly running out of time in naming her before “Buddy” becomes her actual name. Not that it’s bad, just doesn’t fit in with “I named these animals after something game-related or celestial.” But then with her spine does she fit in anywhere? She came in extremely shaky though, and that has alleviated with some supplementation (both included in her food and exposure to UVB). Buddy also thinks Pangea is the bees knees and acts as though it is a treat. She is completely disinterested in bugs. I enjoy her enthusiasm for healthier foods and nutrition! but I must save up to get a scan of her organs as I fear her absurd degree of spinal deformation - and resulting ribcage deformation - may be squeezing organs weirdly. Granted I also have pectus excavatum and I’m fine so maybe she is also. Would just be good to know.

Ripley has exceeded all growth expectations and is the clear standout in the babies. I weighed her the other night and she was 8.7 grams, when only 24 days prior she was 5.2g. I think I can see her grow if I stare at her long enough. Her clutchmate, Art, weighed in at a mere 6.1g in comparison. Both of these numbers exceed Pele, my first foray into a slow grower, and every gram increase feels like a milestone after having lost Ox, Vo, and Nah. Mars does not have a pending home unlike Saturn/Chaos, which is fine because we absolutely need to find a more experienced keeper for him. He is extremely uncomfortable with handling or even being seen, with the exception of wanting to be seen because I DARE not to feed him continuously. He hangs around where his food cup goes and just...stares. Stares so much. Reminds me of Sinistar’s “I hunger!” And what a fitting name that would be!

Kamata’s character is coming out a bit more, he has gotten more comfortable with hands and his inherent need to smell all the things and all the others reminds me a bit of Alduin...who he cannot be around, because there is aggression from Kamata and desire to mate from Alduin. Realistically I need to stop putting my animals near each other to see how they react, although neutral space usually keeps things clean. Even Io and Thel were fine, and for a while Io was pretty aggressive even just seeing another crestie. But there was some “hunting” from Kamata and he lunged at Alduin (who seemed blind to the fact that Kamata was there), only for my hand to Inexplicably be in the way (I always put up the barrier of me, Alduin bites me a lot when he’s trying to woo literally everyone else).

Grahm, whom I have not talked much of, has been more comfortable with life generally and is eating and putting weight on again. For a while he had gotten thinner as he grew longer and didn’t eat to keep up with it.

Shin is incredibly impatient with me as we wait on this presumed gal/dollar sale for Labor Day. I give him some good exercise but I know that isn’t adequate. He needs dirt, he needs a lot of roaming space.

Otherwise I have been fighting the Fruit Fly and Gnat Infestation of 2021. Eradication of the fruit flies ended up being just as quick as they made this area their home, but my goal was to do so swiftly after they flew up my nose. Gnats have been a bit more persistent, but are easier to catch in apple cider vinegar traps, and fly ribbon, and just smoosh by hand. Also their larvae do not pop the way the fruit fly ones do, which is...a blessing. Seriously gross.

My shelving was updated to potentially arrive to the store on the 3rd, so I am doing my best to make sure integration of that is as swift and effective as possible. Then I have enclosures to clean and set up. Labor Day. My SO’s birthday. The yale sale. Halloween preparation, Halloween... Then the cold. Bring the cold. I wish to be so cold.

[scatteredenthusiasm-blog]

24-hour Tech Break: Reflections and Realizations from a Screenless Day

For 24-hours this weekend, I joined up with Imaginarium and took a tech break. Starting at 6pm on Friday and going until 6pm on Saturday, I turned my phone off – not “do not disturb” or airplane mode, but just completely off. I closed my computer and iPad as well and zipped them up in my workbag and put them in my closet, out of sight and relatively out of mind. During my time away from screenland, I had a few realizations that I want to share.

Before that, I do want to acknowledge one thing.

I understand that people have actual hardships in life, and that taking a 24-hour tech break is not one of them. And I know a 24-hour tech break sounds like something that would be recognized at the Millennial’s Choice Awards.

“Oh my god, is that the guy that did the 24-hour tech break?” “Wow, I can’t believe it’s him!” “I thought he died at hour 13.” “No, the doctors actually rushed in and were able to resuscitate him after the 24th. That’s why he’s the guest of honor at this year’s MCA’s.”

Anyway, you get the point. But here’s what I learned.

Silence is Golden (for real)

I didn’t realize how much of the day my attention and thoughts were being guided by noise. My typical daily routine consists of nonstop noise. 

When I wake up I put in headphones first thing and listen to a podcast while I make coffee and breakfast, then I take out the headphones to write my morning journal of three pages by hand, then the headphones go back in and I clean up breakfast. Next up I swap out headphones for Spotify to play on my phone while I shower and get ready for the day, then I go headphones again and get my stuff together to head out the door. As I get in my car, I switch from headphones to my car audio, so I’m either listening to music (SiriusXM Fly channel 47, 90′s-00’s hip-hop and r&b, to be precise), or I’m making calls. My workday then consists of either interviewing people, training, staff meetings, or doing in-home sales presentations, which is pretty much me talking 80% of the time, which is just more noise. During a lunch break, or anytime between appointments/meetings, I toss the headphones back in and pick back up on a podcast. Eventually I hop back in the car to head home, so it’s back to music or phone calls. When I get home, the headphones go back in as I cook dinner, and then they come out as I eat dinner while catching up on the previous night’s Late Night with Seth Meyers (and other shows) on my DVR. As that finishes, I’m mindlessly scrolling through social media, just refreshing stuff waiting for the next little dopamine hit that is a new post, story, article, etc. To end the day, I toss the headphones back in while I do dishes, I still have them on as I get ready for bed, and then I pop them out only to fall asleep to Netflix on my iPad that is a foot away from my face, which I then wake up to 30-minutes later to find it still playing, so I close the case and go back to sleep.

Whew. That looks WAY worse typed out. From the moment I get out of bed to when I fall asleep (for the second time), it’s just noise-noise-noise-noise-noise-noise-noise-noise, with zero breaks.

My first realization during the tech break was how vital the silence was. I needed it desperately. The silence revealed to me exactly how much noise I fill my day with.

I like to think of clarity of mind as a mirror that I’m looking into. Every bit of noise throughout the day adds a little fog to it. Podcasts – fog, phone calls – fog, texts – fog, every refresh of social media – fog (and fog and fog and fog and fog). These things aren’t inherently bad on their own, but my relationship (or addiction, really) to them is unhealthy, because I let them fog the mirror all day.

The silence, however, is the only thing that would clear the mirror. Each hour of silence during the tech break was a small wipe across the mirror, until finally the fog was gone, which happened maybe at hour 17. The more fog you put on the mirror, the longer it takes to clear it.

When the mirror finally cleared, I was reminded of who I am and what I want to do with my energies that particular day. My creative juices started to flow, I had three or four short story ideas come up, and I was able to look in the mirror and see what the next right thing to do was. When the mirror is foggy, I don’t have a chance at seeing the next right thing. I’ll get an idea, but then a Facebook notification will completely derail that train of thought. With a clear mirror, I was able to think through a story idea completely uninterrupted, even sketching out a quick outline so I could return to it later.

Silence is vital, and it brings clarity along with it. I don’t mean that you have to treat your tech break like a silent retreat – you can talk to anyone you’d like in person – but when I say silence I really mean just a break in the noise of screenland, whether the screen is making noise or not. The silence recharged my batteries.

Productivity

Without the constant interruptions of noise, I was able to accomplish more tasks in my 24-hour tech break than I had done in the first two months of the year. I always have a running list of things I’d like to get done around my house on a day off, but then stuff comes up and those things get pushed aside, or I’ll start one project and then come back the next weekend and try to finish it, usually leaving it 75% done.

Over the 24-hour tech break, I did laundry (sheets, towels, clothes), reorganized my bedroom, cleaned out my car, deep cleaned my entire house (not just dusting and cleaning the floors, but like the scrubbing the shelves of my fridge kind of deep cleaning), raked leaves, pulled weeds, trimmed all my hedges, bought new succulents for inside, moved everything off my front porch, swept the floor, wiped down the furniture, and then rearranged the layout of the porch, I read 50+ pages of a book, I wrote my three morning journal pages, wrote 50% of this post (by hand, of course), I cooked, and I got rid of (donated) two trash bags full of clothes I haven’t worn since I moved into this house in 2016.

All done in 24-hours, with ~8 of those hours spent sleeping.

I don’t mind a good day or two of cleaning and organizing because I would usually catch up on podcasts or listen to music while I did those things. But without any distractions from noise or screenland, I was able to accomplish each task in about 60% of the time they would normally take because I was solely focused on that particular task.

For example, if I have headphones in while trimming hedges, I’ll come across a song I don’t want to listen to on a playlist, so I’ll get my phone out of my pocket to change songs, but then I’ll see an Instagram notification, and when I open Instagram I’ll see some new stories pop up, then I’ll comment on a friend’s story, which will remind me to text another friend back about something else, and then 10-minutes go by and I’m standing on a ladder with hedge clippers in one hand and my phone in the other, all while my playlist is now 5 songs past the one I wanted to skip in the first place. When finally get back to work on the hedges, another song will come on that I don’t want to listen to, and the cycle starts over.

(Exhale) I told you my relationship to screenland was unhealthy.

Without my phone in my pocket, I was not only able to complete the tasks much quicker, but I was also able to do them better because they had my full attention. Instead of just buying new succulents and putting them in new pots, I cleaned out all of the old pots and mixed in new dirt for the succulents I already had. At the end of the day, I was tired, but it was that good kind of tired, where you’re proud of your work.

I was at my most productive when the mirror wasn’t fogged.

Constant Contact

Last point, so I’ll make it quick.

I was stunned at how many times I would think of something that would make me reach for my phone to text a friend. The smallest thought would pop in my head, and I’d reach for my pocket for a phone that wasn’t even there because my first instinct is, “Oh, I gotta text that person about that.” I do that ALL DAY, which puts me in constant contact with so many different people. The reaction to reach for my phone was Pavlovian like.

The shirt I wore yesterday was one I bought in Encinitas last year when I was visiting my friend Luke, and I thought, “Oh, I need to send him a picture of this shirt.” Later on I was getting my golf clubs out of my car and thought, “Oh, I need to see if my friend Patty wants to walk 9-holes tomorrow because the weather is so nice.” Then I found an old jacket from college that made me think, “Oh, I need to send a picture of this to my friends because it reminds me of this thing we did back in 2009.” This routine happened over and over and over and over.

Again, texting my friends isn’t a bad thing – in fact, it may be a nice pick me up for both of us in the process. But the quick reaction to reach for my phone anytime those thoughts popped in my head scared me. It was like I was desperate to be in constant contact with a bunch of people all day, and that constant contact is going to add more and more fog to the mirror, distracting me from writing, cleaning, reading, or whatever I want to spend my energies on. Plus, each time I open my phone to send one of those texts, I’m more likely to come across something else on that shiny, 5.5” screen that will take me down a different rabbit hole, which will, in the end, make me forget to send the original text.

The break from constant contact was incredibly calming.

If you read one part, let it be this

As the clock approached 6pm, I started to get a little sad. I wasn’t ready for the tech break to be over. I wasn’t ready to return to my old way of doing things. Texts, calls, social media, emails – I knew it would all come flooding back with the press of one button. Or even worse, what if no texts came flooding in? OR, what if only one text came in and it was from the pharmacy saying that my monthly prescription was ready for pickup? That wasn’t the case, but I digress…

I loved my time off of the grid, and quite frankly, I liked no-tech Jeremy a lot better than screenland Jeremy. It reminded me of being a kid, when I could jump from task to task, pursuing whatever interested me at the moment, free of anything buzzing or lighting up in my pocket, and solely focused on what was right in front of me at that exact moment in time. I got out of my own head. The mirror was clear.

A power shift had taken place – one I was dying for and didn’t even know it. For the first time in probably a decade, I owned my phone instead of my phone owning me.

So going forward, I’ll make some adjustments to my routine: I’m going to limit the amount of time headphones are in my ears, I’ll swap out Netflix for a book before I go to sleep (because I know I don’t need to watch all of The Office for the millionth time), I will leave my phone in a different room of my house when I want to get stuff done, and I’ll continue not checking social media before noon, which I’ve been doing for Lent this year.

If you’d like to try a 24-hour tech break, here are my suggestions:

1. Do it over a regular weekend at your house, because it’s easier to analyze your habits when you are in your typical routine. If you do it outside of your routine, then you’ll have other distractions to keep you away from technology in the first place, which won’t reveal your tech instincts enough. It’s best to have as little planned as possible.

2. Get someone else to do it that doesn’t live with you, because it’s a nice little encouragement to know other people out there are doing it as well.

3. Keep a notepad with you and write down your accomplishments every time you complete one. By the end of the day, you’ll be shocked at what all you’ve done.

I know one tech break isn’t a cure all, so I’m planning on doing this once a month for the rest of the year. In the meantime, I’ll be working hard to keep the mirror clear.

[pisati]

I don’t know what hit me today but I just.. never really crashed. I was yawning all through my shift at work, but I thought I’d be worse off when I got home. 

I came upstairs, changed. got started on dinner after I got the mail. I decided to slice up my last chunk of tofu and put it in the air fryer; 20 minutes in which to empty the dishwasher and load up what was in the sink. and also take out everything in the cabinet under the stove and reorganize. 

after I ate I took out everything from the 3 ‘junk drawers’ we seem to have; one was full of coupons and takeout menus my mom just throws in there (plus a notebook, two letters from banks to my brother asking him to sign up for more credit cards, and my brother’s senior pictures for some reason), one was full of scattered bag ties and clips and can koozies and other nonsense, the last was full of return address labels, assorted junk, many pairs of scissors, some of my dad’s things, plant food, corks, you name it. 

I made a pile of stuff mom needs to go through and decide if she wants to keep it for the sentimental value. at some point I’m going to give her a small storage box and tell her that everything she wants to keep (like if she wants to keep our old pool passes from our old neighborhood instead of leaving them in a drawer in the kitchen) is going in the box. like a little memory box. if it needs to be kept it needs to be kept somewhere that isn’t cluttering up spaces we actually use. I threw out all but a few of the coupons because 98% of them expired up to 2 years ago; kept the takeout menus. put the bag clips in the bottom half of a takeout container to keep them in one place. moved the matches and the lighter into the same place. I want to get a little drawer organizer and move all of the office-related stuff into it. mom had something of a home office going when she was still working from home, but now there’s office supplies scattered literally everywhere. pens hiding in drawers, rolls of packing tape crammed into the drawers in side tables, a box holding pens and tape and god knows what else in the tv cabinet... if I learned anything from marie kondo (and I sure as hell did), it’s that there is a place for everything, but every kind of thing needs one place. meaning there is one place for pens to go, and all the pens need to come out of the drawers and the office supply holder we have sitting on the island for some reason and god knows where else, and they need to go in that one place. and they need to go back to that one place after they’ve been used.

amazing how someone can complain so much about messes, saying how a messy house bothers her, and she’s so terrible at organizing. I’m surprised I learned how to be so much better about it, after growing up in that kind of chaos. I learned detachment quicker than my mom anyhow. we really don’t need to keep everything.

I just hope mom will keep up with it, but I have my doubts. I reorganized the freezer a while ago, separated everything into categories. different types of food on different shelves. but of course after mom goes shopping, everything ends up anywhere it’ll fit. I did the same thing to the pantry a few weeks ago, and I’m sure it’s going to become chaos again soon enough. it’s nice to hope, anyway.

I’ve been awake since 6 this morning. it’s past midnight already. I’m definitely tired, but I don’t know what happened that I could go to my morning doctor appointment and then work a 7 hour shift and still come home and be able to make dinner and clean. I wish I could explain these random pockets of energy. I can’t say I feel good, but I didn’t feel the need to stop, really.

---

I don’t know why, but for the last week at least [absolutely no gauge on how much time has actually lapsed] I’ve been just. lonely. I can’t remember the last time I got like that, at least while feeling okay about it. I mean, when I was in college after I transferred, and I was alone in my apartment, feeling extra alienated because my PA friends were off doing something together and I was 3.5 hours away, or just.. everyone else was with other people and there I was, alone in my apartment, with nothing to do and nobody to really talk to. times like those I would’ve wanted just one person’s company; I would’ve wanted to just have another body near me, another heartbeat. but the thought of it made me so sick at the same time. I didn’t want anyone touching me. I didn’t want to be alone, but I wanted everyone to just stay the hell away from me.

I forgot that it could be nice. maybe I made it a lot scarier in my head. get shocked every time you see a white bunny as an infant, become terrified of fluffy white things later. 

I do miss it. resting my head on someone. an arm around my shoulders, even a hand on my leg. just watching something. not even needing to talk.

I’ve been missing that more the last few days. that seems to be all I want after these long days. just a little company. a little quiet. winding down without the sting of realizing exactly how quiet it actually is.

nothing to really do about it I guess. suppose that’s what having 4 pillows is for.

[happy2bmyownboss]

Ahhhh… it’s Wednesday, hump day, and we are halfway through a whole week of working in our kitchen here. (I started writing this yesterday.) Today was a tough day for us here with cranky kiddos and many, many interruptions. Jacob was really excited to get started this morning.

Our focus today was on our pantry cabinets. We have three tall cabinets that we use for pantry storage… two are dedicated to food items and the other one is for small appliances and such. They were fairly organized but some of the items were hard to access. So we decided to work on that.

We started by taking everything out of one section at a time.

Then wiping it out and replacing the old bay leaves with new ones to help prevent pantry moths. I hate those little buggers.

After completing one section we moved to the next.

The younger kids were very helpful with taking out everything, wiping down the items, and wiping out the shelves. They were very interested in what surprises might be hiding. I did throw out a few things and emptied some of the individual snacks into one basket

We made a list of the items we are overstocked on, like flour and grits?, so we can plan to use them during our pantry challenge next week. We were also able to get rid of one big container by simply filling our syrup bottle.

Joey was more interested in saving some boxes for his ‘projects’ though.

He has a very active imagination. This is one of his pieces of recycled art:

This job wouldn’t have been too long if I hadn’t kept getting sidetracked. I somehow decided that I needed to clean out the rolling cart which led to me putting in a shelf liner too.

Then I decided to rearrange a couple of the cabinets to make them easier to get too. That took way longer than I expected but I am very happy with the results.

When we finished with the foods we moved on to the appliance cabinet. As you can see it wasn’t working well as part of the food processor was in one cabinet with the other parts were down below.

I got sidetracked with this project and decided to rearrange another shelf too. I figured why not make room for all of the small appliances in the one cabinet?

I haven’t been happy with this shelf but I am liking it much better now. I also purged a few cook books while reorganizing this area. I’m still not sure if I’m completely satisfied with the way this shelf is set up but it is much better than it was. I do like having the cookbooks within reach. We still need to clean out the area beside it though… maybe tomorrow?

Then reorganizing this area led me to moving a couple of things to under the sink. (I had cleaned this out when we organized the bathroom last month.) Plastic bags had somehow taken over the cabinet so when I found the bag holder I put the boys to work.

Then back to the appliance cabinet… we were able to move the mixing bowls to an upper cabinet along with the measuring cups. This may also store a couple of other items later on this week.

Now the girls have no excuse for not putting away these items. I was worn out but we still needed to go grocery shopping.

After tidying up the kitchen and clipping a few coupons we headed off to town. This was quite the adventure today but we survived! We had three stops and I was ready to be headed home before we finished at Walmart. (Yes that is an affiliate link just for you… I may have another one or two listed later on in this post as well.)

The kids were happy to get a cookie from the Walmart bakery… funny how such a simple thing can bring a big smile to a child’s face.

We picked up a couple of things for the kitchen while shopping. The kids helped me pick out some new potholders and a couple of kitchen towels. I also picked up a shelf for one of the cabinets. We tried to find a valance for the window with no luck. I think I have some fabric stuck in a drawer that might work.

Maybe once we get this house in order I’ll finally be able to catch up on a few sewing projects as I have been having many requests for dresses and skirts. I have also bought a bunch of patterns from eBay recently and I am excited to make some outfits for the family.

Putting away groceries was quite easy as it was so much more organized. Here are the final results.

I know the top shelf looks a bit cluttered. I try to keep the flour and cornmeal in containers but my containers are not very space saving at all. I also appear to have taken stock in the flour company. That yellow pitcher is for making funnel cakes and I jut haven’t figured out where else to put it yet.

The next shelf is the baking supplies and mixes. (I used a couple of under the shelf baskets to hold the smaller items. Down below are the snacks and bottled juices. The green basket has a variety of individual snacks the kids can choose from.

We don’t normally have that many Oreos but there was a great BOGO sale (I had coupons too!) and who doesn’t love Oreos with a tall glass of cold milk? Hmmm… I might just need to have a couple when I finish this draft. (I never did make it back to the kitchen for that snack last night.)

The bottom shelf is our breakfast items. I have an over abundance of grits and oatmeal down there, not quite sure how that happened. We may be incorporating some oatmeal or no bake cookies into our menu for next week.

We moved the canned goods to the top shelf where the breakfast items were so that they are more visible and accessible. I really need to head to Sam’s Club soon to restock on some of our staples.

Then the next shelf holds the necessary ingredients for my kids’ favorite sandwich (PB & J). Plus the canned fruits and such.

Next comes the pastas, sauces, and grains. The condiments are kind of split up between shelves but that may change later on.

Last but not least are the ‘extras’ and some of the bulk items. Most everything is within the kids’ reach for them to get when it’s their turn to be kitchen helpers.

Then we have the appliance cabinet. The new shelf on top gives a little extra room in this cabinet. I am so glad to have the measuring cups within reach now. They were way up in this empty space here where I had stand on tippy toes to reach.

Then we have a basket with some of the smaller things like my pink hand mixer that I love and the electric can opener that I hardly ever use. Beside that is our four slot toaster that I’ve had forever.  I did throw a couple bags of chips in here as I didn’t have any other place for them.

The food processor has a new home with all of its parts. That basket holds all of the attachments for the stand mixer and for the food processor.

The very bottom shelf holds the appliances we use less frequently like the waffle iron, pizzelle maker, air popper, and the quesadilla maker. I have had a lot of these appliances for years as well.

I debated on whether or not to keep the popcorn popper and decided that we would. We just need to remember it is there. I have many fond memories of popping corn with my mom-mom and I know my kids enjoy watching it pop too.

While dinner was in the oven I rearranged the tops of my wall cabinets and hung a small shelf over the window. I’ll post a picture soon, hopefully after I cleaned the cobwebs down… lol.

We will definitely be cleaning up the tops of the pantry cabinets tomorrow as well as polishing the cabinet doors and cleaning up the appliances that are stored on top. I may hold off on the doors until I finish the other cabinets though. That may be our final kitchen mission for Friday.

We are definitely on the home stretch now, at least in the kitchen, and I am feeling very optimistic about tackling the rest of the house. I guess this may be a late version of Spring cleaning but it’s better late than never, right?

We did not get around to working in the garden today but I’m sure we will be able to make some time for that tomorrow. I must say that I’m proud of the kiddos as we have been keeping up with our daily routines and chores while working on these missions. They have been happy little helpers too for the most part.

If you haven’t been following along or if you just walked into our kitchen you probably wouldn’t have a clue how much work we have accomplished. It doesn’t look a whole lot different until you start opening cabinets or actually working in the kitchen.

The ‘flow’ is definitely improving which will help with a lot of my frustrations when I’m trying to cook. A couple of more areas to tackle and we’ll have a wonderfully improved kitchen just in time for Mother’s Day!

What plans do you have for the weekend? I think it’s been hinted that we might go fishing… I’ve got a new pink fishing pole and a pink tackle box so I’m ready to go!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Kitchen Kleaning Wednesday Mission: Pantry Ahhhh... it's Wednesday, hump day, and we are halfway through a whole week of working in our kitchen here.

[alex-ruins-everything]

Turning Pages - Chapter 5

Intrulogical bookshop au! Read the whole thing on ao3 here. 

Logan heavily disliked being away from the bookshop for so long. Yes, he trusted the other employees to take care of the shop, but he didn’t know what to do with himself when he wasn’t at work. One could only reorganize his own bookshelf so many times. He had tried alphabetical order by author name, by title, then he had tried color coordinated. None of them appeased him, so he had just set his books back to the way they had been before. Finally Tuesday came and he was immensely pleased to be waking up at six in the morning to open up the bookshop. His morning routine was always the same, always in order, always timed perfectly. First he woke up right as his alarm rang. He usually woke up a little bit early since his body had naturally trained itself to be up early at this point, but he allowed himself that time to linger in bed until his alarm did ring. Next he headed to the bathroom to take care of business, not brushing his teeth just yet. That was for later. Kitchen was after the bathroom where he made himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit on top, or if he wanted variation he’d go for toast with jam. After eating breakfast Logan would get dressed in the outfit he laid out the night before, brushing his teeth and double checking that he had everything he needed for the day before heading out the door.

The mornings were never quite as hot as the afternoons were, but he didn’t have time for the long way through the park. Morning walks were always short since he was eager to get to the bookshop. Today there was a change in his usual routine. When Logan got to the bookshop the lights were already on inside. He’d have to check who closed last night and give them a warning about that. Even more concerning was that the door was unlocked. Surely nobody was daft enough to leave the lights on and the door unlocked. Had someone broken in? Logan pushed the door open carefully, looking around for any signs of disarray. Everything seemed to be in perfect condition, but that didn’t make any sense. He scanned the aisles as he walked towards the counter, not seeing any sign of life until the door to the back room opened up, causing Logan to jump slightly.

“Mr….Sanders?” he asked, seeing who had come out.

“Logan!” the bookshop owner grinned, setting down a stack of magazines on the counter. “How are you?”

“I’m quite well. I didn’t know you had returned from your trip, I thought you were coming back in a few weeks.”

“The Grand Canyon was nice, but really there’s only so many times you can look at some rocks and I missed this place. I’m glad to see it’s still standing. I got all the reports you sent.”

“Of course it’s still standing, there were no disasters besides Patton spilling his coco in the break room, and that was easily handled with a mop,” Logan replied. After all, he did his best to take good care of this place while Mr. Sanders was gone.

“That does sound like a Patton thing to do,” Mr. Sanders chuckled. “I’m back for a few weeks this time, so you don’t need to work so hard for a while.”

Logan wanted to point out that he liked working hard, but the bookshop owner had picked his magazines back up and started to organize them in the stand by the register. Logan had worked at the shop long enough to know how to work alongside Mr. Sanders, and more often than not it was in comfortable silence, the occasional humming of some Disney song coming from the elder. No wonder Roman was allowed to pester the shop. He was walking through the aisles when the door unlocked and the day began officially.

It was average business for a weekday morning. About an hour in Mr. Sanders excused himself for a coffee run, promising to bring some pastries back for everyone. Logan was fine with that. He stood behind the counter, flipping through a random book on marine life he had picked up during this morning’s sweep of the shelves. The bell on the door rang and Virgil walked in, hood of his sweatshirt up and headphones on. He nodded his hello and Logan wanted to mention that Mr. Sanders was back, but the other wouldn’t have heard considering his music could be detected through the headphones as he passed. Logan went back to his reading, flipping the page to a new section about octopi. He was reminded of the tentacle tattoo that had been spotted on Remus’ arm the few times he had come to the shop and wondered if he was a fan of octopuses or squids. Well...that was a normal thing to think, right? It was a perfectly normal query to wonder why someone had chosen to permanently tattoo something on their body.

“Dude, are you okay? You’re like super spaced out right now,” Virgil’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Oh- yes,” Logan cleared his throat, shutting the book without bothering to take note of his page number. “Just thinking, I suppose. Mr. Sanders is back, he’s just off getting coffee and some treats for the break room.”

“Oh, sweet. I missed that funky dude.”

“We all did,” Logan said, pulling out a list from under the counter. “The displays are getting changed. Would you mind pulling these books and setting them aside for the new setup?”

“You got it, Lo,” Virgil nodded, taking the list and setting off to do his task.

Luckily Logan didn’t have to worry about going back to his book because a customer happened to come in and ask for some help finding a good book on true crime, something Logan had a good amount of recommendations for. Mr. Sanders came back with his coffee and a box of danishes, having a conversation with Virgil before going off to do some task of his own. For a bookstore that wasn’t often busy there was always lots to do. Virgil left in the early afternoon when Patton came in, the bubbly employee was overwhelmingly happy to see that the bookshop owner had returned. Happy enough to go off on an hour long update with how his plants were doing. While Patton showed off the pictures of his plant kiddos to Mr. Sanders, Logan took a seat at the register again, writing down reports of what had been done so far today. Yes, the boss man himself was here so it was unnecessary but it was a force of habit now and it was good to keep in practice for the next inevitable trip Mr. Sanders took.

Logan’s focus was only interrupted when the bell on the door rang and a familiar voice could be heard. He looked up to see Remus walking in with another customer that Logan recognized as a regular. Remus’ friend walked off and Patton’s voice could be heard in one of the aisles greeting him by name. Remus however chose to walk right up to the counter.

“Fancy seein’ you here, Specs,” he winked.

“Surely it’s not surprising. I’m nearly always working,” Logan replied. “Have you been enjoying your marine biology book you purchased last time you were here?”

“Couldn’t put the thing down. Finally got to prove to Ro that I can indeed read.”

“Congratulations…?” Logan spoke, not sure if that was the proper response, but Remus smiled regardless. “Can I help you find anything else or are you just here with your friend?”

“Hm, well...I trust your judgement by now. Got anything you’d suggest? I like sea life but anything spooky or gorey is good too,” Remus said.

Logan thought for a moment before getting an idea. He had spent nearly half an hour in the true crime section earlier and could think of a few books Remus might enjoy. He nodded, motioning for the other to follow him to a corner of bookshelves, passing Remus’ friend and a mildly blushing Patton on the way.

“Serial killers,” he said, pulling a book off the shelf and pressing it into Remus’ hands. “Stories about their crimes and the punishments they faced, kind of a gloss over of some of the most infamous ones. If there's a particular killer you’re interested in I’m sure we have more in-depth biographies of them as well.”

“Oh, Jeffrey Dahmer’s in this! I wrote an essay on him in high school. Best grade I’ve ever gotten,” Remus grinned, looking over the book in his hands. “I’m sold, Specs.”

“I can ring you up if you’d like,” Logan said, turning to head back up to the register. “Unless you’d rather wait for your friend to finish his shopping.” “Oh, I dunno if Jay is actually gonna buy anything, but he wanted to come say hello to Patton. You didn’t hear it from me, but he’s got a bit of a crush,” Remus laughed.

“Well, I wish him the best of luck with that endeavor,” Logan spoke, nodding to Mr. Sanders at the register who was looking at Remus like he knew him but couldn’t place where. “Remus, this is Mr. Sanders. He owns the bookshop.”

“Oh! My brother knows you,” Remus said, waving a hello as Logan went behind the counter as well. “I’m Roman’s brother, which is why I look like a better version of him.”

“Oh, yes! I know Roman. He comes in here quite often. Is he in today?” Mr. Sanders looked around the shop as if expecting the other brother to be around.

“Nope, he got roped in to helping our Aunt Patty clean out her attic,” Remus replied, his eyes falling on a marine life book that was sitting by the register. “Are you doing some good old research, Mr. S?”

“Actually, that’s been Logan’s read today,” the bookshop owner spoke, watching Remus hand over his book to Logan before going back to the paperwork he was doing.

“Lemme guess...it’s another excellent resource?” Remus asked, leaning on the counter as Logan rang him up. Then he got an idea. “Y’know...I don’t suppose you’re free Thursday, are you? I was gonna go to the aquarium and see the octopi. Maybe I could bring you with?”

Logan had to stop himself from immediately answering yes, surprised to find that he was enticed by the idea.

“Sadly I’m working Thursday, my apologies,” he replied, not loving the frown that settled onto the mustached man’s face as his response.

“You can have Thursday off,” Mr. Sanders spoke, shaking his head when Logan opened his mouth to protest. “Logan Berry, you work nearly every day. You can have a Thursday off. I’ll be here so it’s no big deal.”

“Looks like you aren’t working anymore, so whaddya say, Loganberry? Aquarium?” Remus smiled, sliding his card to pay for his new book.

“I think the aquarium could be enjoyable, I’ll accompany you,” Logan answered, taking a pen to write his phone number on the back of Remus’ receipt. “I’ll text you my address so you can pick me up and we can discuss any further details that are needed, such as timing.”

“Well then, it’s a date,” Remus’ grin grew, looking over at Janus who was waiting for him by the door. “See ya Thursday!”

“Yes, yes. A date,” Logan nodded, watching Remus bounce away and leave the shop itself.

Wait. A date?

TAGLIST:

@theiwatobiicepic

[approachingmindfulnessblog]

Day 7 - Planning My First Steps into Minimal Living

Meet Riley, my motivational succulent! I said I wouldn’t buy clothes, I never said I wouldn’t spend $5 on a plant! I suppose you could argue that this is proof I’m still and irresponsible spender caught in the grips of consumerism, but I don’t think so. I’ve saved a lot of money these last few weeks by not allowing myself to buy, and after saying for such a long time that I wanted to buy some succulents and never actually doing it, it felt good to pick out my new friend while I was shopping for pizza ingredients. Not to mention, she’s good for me! Studies have shown that being around plants can lower your stress level, and when I lose track of what I’m writing on the blog I like looking at her for a moment to refocus. I named her after my roommate in Guatemala, who inspired me during the trip and was the first to comment on my new plant!

Since I’ve committed to Minimalism without really spending any time at home, or being around my stuff, I’ve been trying to brainstorm things I can do as an initial purge of my belongings when I get back, whether that’s in a couple days or a couple weeks.

empty the cabinets in the bathroom. separate them into things that are used on a regular basis, like toothpaste and cosmetics you incorporate in your daily look; things you’re saving for something specific (i.e.  empty Lush pots that are being saved to be turned in and recycled in exchange for a face mask); and things that are just taking up space, like samples from Sephora two years ago that you saved for no apparent reason, seeing as they’ve never been touched. sell, give away or toss anything that is just taking up space. clean the inside of the cabinets, and then clean the items themselves. put them back in the cabinet in an organized fashion. consider investing in an organization system to keep them tidy, but buy nothing yet. will your reused jars work instead? bequeath tampons and pads to mom & sis, and invest in a menstrual cup instead. 

empty desk drawers one at a time. anything that hasn’t been used in a year, should be tossed. things that have been kept for sentimental value but are never actually looked at, should be tossed. old paychecks should be tossed. see if instruction manuals can be found online, then toss physical copies. take a picture of prescription information, then toss unimportant papers. figure out what is and isn’t working about your current organization system. consider updating it. Buy nothing yet. replace items that you actually use or care about. 

go through bookshelves and remove any book you did not enjoy or know you will never read again. reorganize remaining books. sell unwanted books to a local used bookstore. 

purge jewelry box. anything that you don’t wear or love, sell or gift. throw away broken pieces. return remaining pieces to box. consider a new organization system, but buy nothing yet. 

clean out closet shelves. if you’re not using it, ditch it. if you feel the urge to keep something you’re not using, ask yourself why. consider what value the item brings to your life. donate blankets that have been sitting at the top of your closet for at least a year. if something has been broken and not fixed, give yourself 30 days to mend it, and if it is still unaddressed, toss it. 

go through your wardrobe. any clothes that you dislike or know you haven’t warn in the last year, sell or donate. any clothes that are too small, or uncomfortable, sell or donate. set aside clothes you need for work, and your go to pieces. with the remaining, in between clothes, ask yourself what you like and dislike about each piece. if the dislikes outweigh the likes, consider getting rid of it. monitor the remaining pieces over the next two months and see what you reach for. get rid of items you ignore. consider what holes might have been left in your wardrobe by your purging, or what might be more comfortable or functional than what you currently have. buy nothing yet. 

collect loose change taking up space. take it to the bank. 

go through drawer of memories and keepsakes. scan anything important to you. toss everything unless it has importance (i.e., legal). consider a different organization system. buy nothing yet. 

recycle all junk mail from colleges you’re uninterested in. read remaining mail and get rid of anything that doesn’t hold importance. consider new organization system. buy nothing.

go through knickknacks. Ii you don’t love it, get rid of it. 

go through shoes. if you haven’t worn them in a year, sell them. if you don’t like them or they no longer ‘feel like you’, sell them. consider what  sort of shoes might go better with your new style and hold up better, but buy nothing yet. 

go through underwear drawer. throw away all uncomfortable or dysfunctional underwear. 

go through art supplies drawer. give away all art supplies that are going unused. 

get rid of all the junk in the junk drawer. all of it. get rid of any unused items in the electronics drawer, and any cords that you don’t know the purpose of, if they have not been used in over a year.

delete any photos you don’t care about from your Dropbox.

delete irrelevant files from computer. 

unsubscribe from unnecessary emails. 

take extra pillows off the bed. removing and replacing them is a waste of your time.  

delete old text conversations and emails that are no longer important. 

Look around at the now far emptier room, and breathe. Feel how much stress is eliminated by eliminating clutter.

(While the phrase “buy nothing yet” did get tiresome to type out after a while, I’m trying to make an important point to myself. I can challenge myself to think of more effective ways to organize the stuff I decide to keep, but that doesn’t mean I need to run out and buy new stuff right away. Anything that’s worth buying, is worth waiting for, so I can see whether simply getting rid of some crap is enough to make an area more organized, or whether it would make sense for me to organize in say, dividers for my drawers, a file folder for important documents or little shelves for my makeup.)

[dianehoffmaster]

One of my least favorite chores to do around the house is laundry.  I have suggested a number of times to my family that we adopt nudity as a way of life just so I can stop washing clothes.  Too bad they don’t really think that is such a great idea.  If your family goes through as many clothes as we do, these laundry room organization ideas may be just the thing you need!

Easy Laundry Room Organization Ideas

Between regular clothes, sheets and towels, workout clothes and all the things my daughter throws in the laundry that are actually CLEAN, I think I spend half of my life in the laundry room.  Our laundry room is not some giant, spacious room like you see in magazines.  It is a very tiny room that two people cannot comfortably fit into once the washer and dryer are in place.  I do what needs to get done in there and leave. Choosing to ignore the dull white walls covered with scuff marks, the warped flooring, and the crowded shelves.

I am never going to actually ENJOY doing laundry but there is no reason the room needs to look like a prison cell, right?  I decided to make laundry room organization a priority while also making the room LOOK more attractive.    Here are a few laundry room organization ideas to keep in mind if you are upgrading your laundry space

Start scrubbing

When planning your laundry room organization ideas, the first thing to do is clean out the room as much as possible.  Make sure you turn off the water and unplug things from the electrical outlets.  Sweep the floors and wipe up laundry detergent spills before getting started.

Paint the walls an inviting color

Skip white and beige…they are rather dreary and depressing.  Instead go with something bright and lively.  Maybe a bright yellow or a grassy green.  Choose a paint that will cover the walls with only one coat.  You really don’t need a high gloss paint unless people are running around your laundry room getting dirty fingerprints on the walls.  Since no one else in my family actually even enters the laundry room, the walls stay pretty clean.  A flat paint is a good choice for laundry room walls.

  Add in laundry hampers

If your family is not too laundry challenged, place several laundry hampers in  your laundry room.  One for whites, one for darks, and one for everything else.  That way you can skip the sorting when it is time to do laundry.  I did not have the space for more than 2 but when I had only one and got backed up on laundry, things would end up in piles on the floor.  At least with 2 laundry hampers I can keep the piles slightly more contained.

Make sure your space is well lit

Unfortunately, I have no windows in my laundry room but I do have a very bright overhead light to work by.  If your laundry room is on the dark and dreary side, mount a light on the wall to help make things a bit more cheery in there.

If you don’t already have shelving, put some in

Storage space is always at a premium in my laundry room and the shelves were a cluttered mess.  The first step in implementing a few laundry room organization ideas was to clean off shelves and reorganize.  Baskets are a big help in controlling our rag collection and I made room on the shelf to store all the laundry products like detergent, stain remover and my homemade dryer sheets.

Mount whatever you can

Laundry room organization is a lot easier when you don’t have a lot of STUFF cluttering up the room and floor. Wall mounted ironing boards and irons can be a real space saver.  Install a cabinet over your washer or dryer to store your sewing kit, manuals for your washer and dryer, or whatever else doesn’t seem to have a home.  Mount hooks and/or towel racks on the back of the door to hang things out of site.  Be creative and use every available space.

Make a lost and found basket: 

I have a pile of socks on my dryer that seem to be missing their mates.  Keep a basket handy that all of the ‘extras’ can live in until their matching friend shows up.

Organize a cleaning supply bucket:

It is much easier to clean your house if your cleaning supplies are organized and in one place.  Place all your cleaning supplies in a bucket with handles that is easy to carry from room to room.

Consider adding a wall mounted chalk board:

Wall mounted chalk boards are handy for taking note of things that are running out or listing who is in charge of what chore each week.  Assign laundry tasks to other family members to take the load off of YOU

Add a touch of whimsy:

To give your laundry room a bit of personality, add a simple phrase or a picture of your family in a frame that you mount on the wall.  Nothing says your laundry room can’t have a personality of it’s own!

I hope these laundry room organization ideas have  inspired you to get into your own dirty laundry domain and start adding a bit of life.  Even just a simple coat of paint can do wonders for the way a room looks.  I was a bit intimidated at the idea of painting a room…I am  a pretty novice painter!  But the laundry room is the perfect place to practice your painting skills because honestly, who else is going to see it but you?

Do you have any other laundry room organization ideas?

Check out these other home organization tips!

Closet Organizing Ideas to Keep Your Wardrobe Neat

Easy Kitchen Organizing Ideas

© Bruna Issa | Dreamstime.com

[chocdono]

My Pantry Organization

I don’t know about you but after Christmas I am SO ready to clean out my house.  I don’t know if it is the new year, and being stuck in my house with the freezing weather that causes it, but I have a a sneaking suspicion that it might have to do with Christmas day.  When the clutter of Christmas decor… and new toys…  and wrapping paper…  and boxes… and general lack of elementary school … is at an all time high, I just can’t help wanting to go “cleaning ninja-warrior” on my whole house.

  Then, when I actually take down the tree with the adrenaline high of singing and twirling to the song Wide Open Spaces, I start scheming about what else needs to have a good thorough cleaning and organizing.  

  So the question is, where did my schemes lead me to this year?  The prime suspect right now are my kitchen cabinets!!!  Cue scary music… dun, dun, DUUUNNN.

  When we moved in, and redesigned the kitchen, I literally created a map for each and every item to have a home in my kitchen.  I used that to help plan the purchase of my cabinets.  But as time has gone on, we’ve made a few changes AND made not just a few messes when putting things away.  Now about a solid year into living with our new kitchen, I am realizing we need to to some more specific organizing within each individual space.

  S0, when my Better Homes and Garden for Walmart challenge for the month of January came up as Refresh Your Home.  I literally took that as a sign from the heavens that I needed to work on my refreshing my messy kitchen cabinets.  I’m so glad I get to partner with them every other month to refresh a space in my home.  And this month I want to present my refreshed snack pantry!

    When I got the assignment, I ran ( not walked) to Walmart to scan the isles for what I could use to make my space look cleaner!  And I found these great clear BPA free storage containers.  I had 4 shelves that could house containers, so the box of 3 containers was a perfect deal for me, and cheaper than buying them individually.  I bought 6 of the sets as a side note, if you don’t need that many sizes, keep in mind that you can buy them one at a time, like a did for the large 18.6 cup boxes, I bought 5 of those, because that is what fit in my pull out shelf/drawer.

    If you want to find the products I used and what else they have available, just click  on the image below to see the project.  These are affiliate links, I may earn a small commission if you buy them, but it doesn’t increase the price of the product for you

  After finding these great containers, I knew that my first project would need to be my small snack pantry.  It is (was) a HUGE mess!!  This picture literally doesn’t do the mess justice!

   The thing about our kitchen it, when it comes to organizing our bulk food, we actually have a large cold food storage room in our basement, and so I keep most of my actual cans and shelf stable foods in that space to make sure that we rotate things properly (also that we eat more of the fresh foods that we buy than canned etc) but we do have one main space for snacks and bread that we have literally piled high with, boxes, and bags, and, wrappers, and candy, and leftovers whatevers, misc galore, you get the picture right?.  In essence it was your worst pantry nightmare.  So, I cleared it out all onto my dining table (with a couple additions from the store) and if the pictures of the pantry didn’t look bad, now at least you can see that I am telling the truth, it was BAD! 

  Here is the deal, and this is where I need to get really real with you all.  If this system isn’t so easy a five year old can do it (youngest member of my family), it will NOT stay looking good.  I don’t want to have to reorganize my pantry every time I go grocery shopping.  And I do not buy the same things every time I go shopping- so the first thing to go was labels.  That is right, as cute as labels look on a set of matching containers, I do not even want to think about having to find a chalk pen or reprint or whatever every time I go grocery shopping.  I don’t want to have the wrong thing in a container…  – which means just absolutely no labels.  But the beauty of the containers that I bought is that they are clear, so you can see what is in them, so you don’t need labels.  

  To get everything to work, we had to reorganize the drawers just a little bit within the cabinet.  We used to have the cereal on the top shelf but I wanted them easy to get (AND easy to put away!!) so we put them on the bottom shelf, ultimately it will make feeding themselves breakfast a lot easier (if it is a cereal day).

  Anyway, after cleaning through the GIANT pile of stuff, (we threw a couple things away and gave a few things away that we just weren’t using but were brand new in the package).  We got all but a couple things in the containers.  Want to see the afters?

I feel refreshed!!

          I feel like you need to pictures me doing jazz hands as I show you this amazing space!!

On each shelf we had just a tiny bit of left over space, so we filled those where we could, with boxes that were either kind of cute OR wrapped in duct tape. But you can put them in the back of the shelf if you want- so that every time you open your pantry you feel the rush of beauty that only matching clear containers can provide! 

     I am a part of the Better Homes and Gardens Live Better network.  Which means I get to to share a few of my favorite things, projects, opinions, and my own original ideas with you. Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart for sponsoring this post. Follow BHG Live Better on  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

The post My Pantry Organization appeared first on Remodelaholic.

from mix1 http://ift.tt/2j1pTi2 via with this info

[sherlocklexa]

My Pantry Organization

I don’t know about you but after Christmas I am SO ready to clean out my house.  I don’t know if it is the new year, and being stuck in my house with the freezing weather that causes it, but I have a a sneaking suspicion that it might have to do with Christmas day.  When the clutter of Christmas decor… and new toys…  and wrapping paper…  and boxes… and general lack of elementary school … is at an all time high, I just can’t help wanting to go “cleaning ninja-warrior” on my whole house.

  Then, when I actually take down the tree with the adrenaline high of singing and twirling to the song Wide Open Spaces, I start scheming about what else needs to have a good thorough cleaning and organizing.  

  So the question is, where did my schemes lead me to this year?  The prime suspect right now are my kitchen cabinets!!!  Cue scary music… dun, dun, DUUUNNN.

  When we moved in, and redesigned the kitchen, I literally created a map for each and every item to have a home in my kitchen.  I used that to help plan the purchase of my cabinets.  But as time has gone on, we’ve made a few changes AND made not just a few messes when putting things away.  Now about a solid year into living with our new kitchen, I am realizing we need to to some more specific organizing within each individual space.

  S0, when my Better Homes and Garden for Walmart challenge for the month of January came up as Refresh Your Home.  I literally took that as a sign from the heavens that I needed to work on my refreshing my messy kitchen cabinets.  I’m so glad I get to partner with them every other month to refresh a space in my home.  And this month I want to present my refreshed snack pantry!

    When I got the assignment, I ran ( not walked) to Walmart to scan the isles for what I could use to make my space look cleaner!  And I found these great clear BPA free storage containers.  I had 4 shelves that could house containers, so the box of 3 containers was a perfect deal for me, and cheaper than buying them individually.  I bought 6 of the sets as a side note, if you don’t need that many sizes, keep in mind that you can buy them one at a time, like a did for the large 18.6 cup boxes, I bought 5 of those, because that is what fit in my pull out shelf/drawer.

    If you want to find the products I used and what else they have available, just click  on the image below to see the project.  These are affiliate links, I may earn a small commission if you buy them, but it doesn’t increase the price of the product for you

  After finding these great containers, I knew that my first project would need to be my small snack pantry.  It is (was) a HUGE mess!!  This picture literally doesn’t do the mess justice!

   The thing about our kitchen it, when it comes to organizing our bulk food, we actually have a large cold food storage room in our basement, and so I keep most of my actual cans and shelf stable foods in that space to make sure that we rotate things properly (also that we eat more of the fresh foods that we buy than canned etc) but we do have one main space for snacks and bread that we have literally piled high with, boxes, and bags, and, wrappers, and candy, and leftovers whatevers, misc galore, you get the picture right?.  In essence it was your worst pantry nightmare.  So, I cleared it out all onto my dining table (with a couple additions from the store) and if the pictures of the pantry didn’t look bad, now at least you can see that I am telling the truth, it was BAD! 

  Here is the deal, and this is where I need to get really real with you all.  If this system isn’t so easy a five year old can do it (youngest member of my family), it will NOT stay looking good.  I don’t want to have to reorganize my pantry every time I go grocery shopping.  And I do not buy the same things every time I go shopping- so the first thing to go was labels.  That is right, as cute as labels look on a set of matching containers, I do not even want to think about having to find a chalk pen or reprint or whatever every time I go grocery shopping.  I don’t want to have the wrong thing in a container…  – which means just absolutely no labels.  But the beauty of the containers that I bought is that they are clear, so you can see what is in them, so you don’t need labels.  

  To get everything to work, we had to reorganize the drawers just a little bit within the cabinet.  We used to have the cereal on the top shelf but I wanted them easy to get (AND easy to put away!!) so we put them on the bottom shelf, ultimately it will make feeding themselves breakfast a lot easier (if it is a cereal day).

  Anyway, after cleaning through the GIANT pile of stuff, (we threw a couple things away and gave a few things away that we just weren’t using but were brand new in the package).  We got all but a couple things in the containers.  Want to see the afters?

I feel refreshed!!

          I feel like you need to pictures me doing jazz hands as I show you this amazing space!!

On each shelf we had just a tiny bit of left over space, so we filled those where we could, with boxes that were either kind of cute OR wrapped in duct tape. But you can put them in the back of the shelf if you want- so that every time you open your pantry you feel the rush of beauty that only matching clear containers can provide! 

     I am a part of the Better Homes and Gardens Live Better network.  Which means I get to to share a few of my favorite things, projects, opinions, and my own original ideas with you. Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart for sponsoring this post. Follow BHG Live Better on  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

The post My Pantry Organization appeared first on Remodelaholic.

from car2 http://ift.tt/2j1pTi2 via as shown a lot