Many thanks to everyone who has reached out to me this week, via text, email, phone call, etc. Everyone’s kindness and support has made a difficult week a little easier, and even though I still feel nauseated and scared and my brain keeps whirring about unfairness and things I could have said and didn’t, it’s not as bad as it could have been, and I thank you all for that. Jason has been a rock for me this week, getting me to eat*, getting me out of bed/out of the house, encouraging me to exercise to keep my spirits up, and being supportive and understanding when simple things frustrate and upset me and push me close to the edge of a screaming, crying, way-overreacting “I’m gonna be homeless” tantrum.

I’ve been trying to keep myself busy. Friends have tipped me off to some jobs and I’ve sent out a few resumes, I’ve boxed up and sent out most of my physical movie media for trade-in at Amazon (something I’d been meaning to do for a while and additionally lessens the load when I decide to/have to move), traded in a big bag of books at half-price books so my bookshelf will stop leaning meanacingly, and have been doing other organization/cleaning tasks around the apartment.

On Tuesday, I took some beautiful thick brocade fabric I’d been saving for over a decade that I bought when I was in Taiwan and reupholstered one of the piano benches I’d bought for a penny from Guitar Center. I’d originally intended to make a top out of it, but a decade had come and gone and the top went unmade and had it been made, it probably would have gone unworn, so it was time to put it to use. I’m also working at getting better about how long I save things for undefined “project” use–if I find myself saving something using the same excuse used by someone on Hoarders, I set a timetable to actually use it, and if doesn’t get done, that stuff gets donated or binned, because I don’t have unlimited storage space for a lifetime of “someday”s and this has motivated me to start and FINISH doing things that otherwise could have been put off indefinitely.

Before:

After:

I only wish I had enough fabric to reupholster both benches, but I’m sure I’ll find some that I like just as much for the other bench at some point.

*Also his presence keeps me from binging on everything in sight. Hello, eating disorder, I did not miss you.

Once upon a time, I used to have an off-white couch. Buying a couch in this color was a mistake, but I had a limited budget and was in a hurry to purchase since I’d just discovered that my couch was the jizz couch. It’s not that I didn’t LIKE off-white, but I have a dog who drags dirt around with him like Pigpen. His deal with the devil is that he stays white so long as he tracks dirt onto everything else. So he would drag his spitty toys up on to the couch, neurotically lick spots of the couch until they were soaking wet, and these wet spots would attract dirt. The couch turned from off-white to the color Gross, and though Ikea sells slipcovers, I was never fond of the way they looked. I also found underwear that was not mine jammed into the cushions once (and don’t feel like digging up the entry), so not only was it no longer aesthetically white, its spirit was also tarnished.

This weekend, I found a large quantity of monster fur I’d purchased for some reason, long forgotten, and as I pondered on it, my gaze fell on said slipcovered couch.

YES.

The monster fur on its own was not nearly enough to reupholster the entire couch, so I walked to Jo-Ann fabrics to pick up some more.

…Unfortunately, this is an item they only carry ‘sometimes’ and now is not one of those times. However, they DID have black vinyl with silver glitter AND it was on sale for the first time in about a year–I’d been keeping tabs because I’d originally wanted to reupholster the whole couch in glitter vinyl.

The fates came together, fabric and a staple gun came together, my thumbnail and a hammer came together, and this is the result:

I love it. It’s like I skinned a goth muppet and made furniture out of it. It’s just tacky enough for someone like me to love. There’s one more step I want to take, and that’s to cover the nail backs with rhinestones for even MORE fabtacular bling. It’s not a forever couch, considering it’s from Ikea, I figure I’ll be lucky to get a couple more years out of it. But DURING those two years, I will love it to death. And then maybe I’ll have won the lottery and can afford THIS couch.

Also, I finally hung the jackalope amazoni got me for my birthday.