Well, well, well. We meet again.

It's the time of the year where I think I'll start blogging again... for a day or two. We'll see.
I'll just jump back into this like it ain't no thang.

So this last Monday morning I noticed little creepy-creeps around my back door. Ants. Grah! No me gusta. So I cracked open my handy homekeeping handbook and looked up how to eradicate pests, specifically ants. There are multiple solutions, and after observing the critters I deduced that the problem was relatively small. There wasn't a trail, only 4 or 5 wandering around. Research indicates these were 'scout' ants sent out to look for food. Goodness knows I couldn't let them get to the kitchen or we'd be done for.

First things first, I vacuumed errything. Like 5 times. And then I vacuumed some more. The carpet, the walls, the furniture, the baseboards, the corners, under the couches, window sills, the kitchen floor, under the appliances- it was exhausting. I also vacuumed about a cup-full of baby powder (to be 100% sure the ants are exterminated) lest the ants survive and start nesting in my Dyson. One could also just use regular corn starch, since that's actually what baby powder is, but without scent.

Then I got some hot, hot water, the hottest I could stand (I wore latex gloves for moderate protection) and bleach (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) and thoroughly scrubbed and wiped down every inch of the kitchen floor I could manage. Also exhausting. And mildly terrifying.

During this time, two or three more ants had reappeared by the back door. I vacuumed them up (and vacuumed a little more powder) and sprinkled a crap-ton more of the baby powder around my back door. I also noticed the door is in dear need of new weather-stripping.

I've heard about ants not liking cinnamon, and last summer I tried making a cinnamon barrier with little luck. My homekeeping handbook recommends sprinkling talcum powder to deter ants. Talcum isn't widely sold anymore as it's thought to be carcinogenic, so I used baby powder. The baby powder is going strong 2 days now. No more ants. And I have a lovely scented powder so when I vacuum, it leaves a lavender smell in the air.

Now all we need to do is instill some tidier cooking habits in our household.

Quick List Round-Up

-I voted yesterday and it was superb.
-My consultation with Landis is tomorrow, can't wait for it.
-I am going overtime this week (like 3rd week in a row)
-We are short-staffed at work (hence above sentence)
-Two interviews scheduled next week, plus two other almost-sure-hires coming soon
-Apartment was freezing last night; heater stopped working AGAIN
-Electrician supposedly coming today to fix it (AGAIN)
-Have watched The Fall almost 10 times since renting it; soooo good.
-McKay (Spencer's younger brother) was set apart as a full-time missionary yesterday
-Much crying ensued (tears of joy!... mostly)
-That makes 3 Holts having left home in the last 4 months (Spencer marrying me, Rachel's mish and now McKay's)
-NEW PUSHING DAISIES TONIGHT! (not that I get to watch D: )
-Have resolved to search for my sewing machine's zipper foot and try out a new skirt pattern I've been thinking about
-I seem to be developing the illness that Spencer has had for the last week and a half.
-Hopefully this Zicam can help... so far it doesn't look great ):

-oh yeah, and it's been SNOWING all day!

Kije's Ouija Board!

Well not much happened over my weekend except that it was PAYDAY!
Woo! Cash-money!

No but it was really nice since Spencer and I were broke there for a couple weeks, what with moving into a new apartment, deposits to pay, deposits yet to be received, (not to mention my stimulus payment STILL has not arrived), bills overdue and all the joy that comes with marrying young and in debt.

But we get by. You know how, people? Love. Because love conquers all. Listen to this, because it's all true, too.

Aaaanyway, almost all of our bills are paid off, my phone, the electricity, the internet, credit cards, laundry is caught up, the pantry is filled, the fridge and freezer have neat packages of food and treats, not to mention I finally did a pay-out and stocked the store with cleaning supplies too. Thank you, Costco!

And not just Costco, Spencer and I managed to catch the last farmer's market of the season, grabbing some very ripe heirloom tomatoes for us and my mom, some figs, red and white onions and eggplant.

And after all that we have some money left over to maybe get a new monitor? I am trying to convince Spencer to spill for a flat-screened one as the ol' hunk of a monitor currently in our living room decided that, post-move, it would adopt a new look to match the new location. Our color range currently features exclusively varying shades of purple and orange. Oh, it's just dandy.

And what's more, we're still receiving wedding gifts (which reminds me we still need to do thank-you-cards YIKES) and that includes another couple gift cards to Target (yay!) and Wal-Mart (meh). NOT to be ungrateful of course! We'll use the Wal-Mart gift card and we'll be totally appreciative of the things here and there we still don't have (like, ironically, a toaster) that it can get us. But still, if we had everything we needed, I doubt I'd ever have want to use it. I'd maybe give it to my mother or something. Am I stuffy? "Oh, Wal-mart? Gag me!" Like that? Oh well.

Oh yeah! And my quilt is coming along nicely! The top piece is fully sewn and ready for batting, the backing, trim and tying. Since it's my first quilt and I've never given much attention to proper technique and instruction, there are a lot of mistakes that can possibly be hidden with tying. Despite those flaws, I love the thing. Can't wait to be able to curl up with it on my couch! Pictures soon, as soon as I find Spencer's camera so I don't have to keep using my phone.

Maybe I'll go get batting for it today.