It's up to 8º! Practically tropical!

There's not a lot on the calendar this week, nothing on fact, until Saturday morning knitting at the Bixby.

Last week's resolution, to not eat after 8 has worked out just fine.  When I've been inclined to graze, I look at the clock, and then don't.  Easy peasy!  I'm going to keep up with that, but also add 12 extra ounces of water every day.  I was noticing how dry my skin is, and while lotion is a fix for the symptom, I think more water is a better fix for the problem.  The discretionary spending is also under control, and it's only the 13th!  Awesome!  Restricting that to cash only has kept my resolve strong, and has stemmed the perpetual inflow of stuff that just ends up going back out.  Hair cut's paid for, and I still have a little mad money.

I've been working on Laura's quilt in the evenings, and have now "only" to fill in the corners.  Each corner requires 48 (I think) HSTs, and 14 solid squares that will get trimmed into triangles along that edge.  That cut will be bias, though, so I'm going to keep them square until after the quilting is done. I'm about 60 HSTs short, but have enough to fill in 2 corners. I'll make them as leaders and enders as I go, and be sure to mix in new ones with the old ones so that there's no obvious before/after going on.  2 corners by next weekend is my goal, and I think completely doable since my calendar is mostly clear during the evening this week.

My range is slowing falling apart.  The oven is temperamental, the drawer has lost one of the side supports, and on Friday, the oven door hinge spit out a rivet.  I've started a little savings account that gets a tiny influx of cash every payday, and the payment I get for this quilt will go in there too, along with the Christmas check from Mom that's on the way.  There's a stove I really, really want, Let's hope this beast holds out until I have enough $$.

Daniel has plans to play video games with his friend this afternoon, so I'm not going out until it's time to drop him off. I'll go to Costco and Shaws or Price Chopper and then back home and back to my sewing machine.  I'm not even dressed yet, but the laundry's running and the dishwasher is full.

What's for Dinner?

13 Chicken Thighs & Stuffing
14 Deli Sandwiches
15 Meatloaf
16 lasagna
17 Garlic Chicken
18 Pizza
19 Pigs in Blankets
20 Beef Stew & Biscuits
21 Grilled Cheese
22 Omelets & homefries
23 Spaghetti
24 pork chops
25 Pizza (Robbie Burns Day! we should have Haggis!)
26 Fajitas
27 Pot Roast
28 Deli Sandwiches
29 Stromboli
30 Laze-agna
31 Fried Rice & Eggrolls

Happy (My) New Year

It was my birthday yesterday, so sort of a New Years do over.  My January Resolution is working out well.  While I *have* spent a little discretionary cash, it has been CASH.  And I have enough to pay for my haircut on Wednesday! Woo!  Now for a weekly resolution... no snacking after 8pm.  Since I usually take my breakfast to work and eat at my desk, not snacking gives my body 12 whole hours to digest and get hungry again before I start eating.  I'd like to stretch that to 13, then 14.

Tonight's dinner was my version of Vergennes Laundry's rice bowl.  I not only feel virtuous for having eaten so much healthiness, but I loved it enough that I am DEFINITELY going to figure out how to make this work at work.  Rice and beans and egg (HOT), cucumber, tomatoes, kimchi and guac (cold).  Maybe 2 boxes, assemble at the last minute?  I'm going to try.

I spent some time last week working on the Concentric Squares quilt for Laura.  I got a little more done today - I'm heading for 88" square, which is probably two more arounds, and then the corners.  I took several pictures - a camera lens is very honest about value, especially if you use a B&W filter.  It's remarkable how I can second guess a decision when I can't see past color.  But since value does all the work here, taking to color away makes it easier to trust myself.

This Week

Monday - Pizza & Cake at work! (we have a new General Manager and a bunch of January birthdays to celebrate!)
Tuesday -
Wednesday - Hair appt, 4:45
Thursday -
Friday -
Saturday -

What's for Dinner?

7 Grilled Cheese / Tomato sandwiches
8 Pork Loin
9 Baked Mac & Cheese (Daniel cooks)
10 Meatloaf
11 Pizza
12 Pancakes & Sausage
13 Beef Stew & Biscuits
14 Deli Sandwiches
15 Meatballs & Noodles
16 lasagna
17 Garlic Chicken
18 Pizza
19 Pigs in Blankets
20 Chicken Thighs and Stuffing
21 Grilled Cheese
22 Omelets & homefries
23 Spaghetti
24 pork chops
25 Pizza (Robbie Burns Day! we should have Haggis!)
26 Fajitas
27 Pot Roast
28 Deli Sandwiches
29 Stromboli
30 Laze-agna
31 Fried Rice & Eggrolls

Yet

What an odd word, yet it's been following me around for much of this week.  See?  Yet.  It's one of those multi-meaning words that works hard.  Like me. :)

Yet
yet adverb1 a: in addition : BESIDES
b: EVEN 
c: on top of everything else

2 a: up to now 
   : so far
   : at this or that time
   : so soon as now
b: continuously up to the present or a specified time :STILL
c: at a future time : EVENTUALLY

3: NEVERTHELESS, HOWEVER: up to the present or a specified time
: one more time


yet conjunction: but nevertheless 
: BUT


Synonyms: Adverb eventually, finally, someday, sometime, sooner or later, ultimately
Synonyms: Conjunction but, except (also excepting), only, saving

That's a lot!  More on this later this week.  Or on the weekend.

Resolutions?  Notsomuch.  I think I'll shoot instead for monthly goals, weekly goals, daily goals.  Hard things are doable in small pieces.  I'll do these on the first of each month, for the monthly goals, on Sundays for the weekly ones.  And the daily ones can just stay in my head.

January: Discretionary spending is cash only.  If I don't have cash, I don't get to have whatever it is I want.  This is a tiny effort to curtail a bad habit I've slid into in the past few weeks (really, Thanksgiving to Christmas) I have $30 cash in my wallet, a $50 bill and a piggy bank full of rollable change, and a trash can full of redeemable cans in the garage.  If I want more cash, I can sell something.  This is gonna save me a little money, AND probably force me into making some better food choices.  If I really want to save money for, you know, a haircut, then I really ought not buy that no-bake on my way home. ;)

Eleven in '11

One resolution (that would be LIGHT, yes?) but let's shoot for eleven goals in 2011.

I will wake up every morning and spend *some* time, even if it's 3 minutes, fortifying my resolve for the day. "Today I will..." I often jump up and go, and find myself scattered and unproductive despite my need to hit the ground running. A moment's reflection at the beginning of the day should help.

I will have Simon's quilt finished in time to enter it into the county fair in August.

I will probably not lose as much weight this year as I want to, but any weight is better than none, so I will lose some. I'm gonna shoot for a realistic 18 lbs. When I get there, I'll reset the ticker and shoot for something even better.

I will save an extra $100 per month. My bank has added a cool new spending tracker feature to their website and I can plainly see, by their pie chart, where too much of our money is going. I think this is very doable, even with college in the fall.

The kitchen floor gets washed twice a week (whether it needs it or not *snort!*)

I will open an Etsy store.

One dinner a week will be meatless. (and my family will cry. tough.)

I will declutter - something goes EVERY.SINGLE.DAY for the whole year. I'll take a picture and share, even, just to stay honest. I will try my very hardest to be green about it - garbage is the last resort. But it's gotta be out of here, and NOT replaced. I have too much stuff!

what are we up to... 9?

I will grow my garden from seeds.

The front of the house will get finished this year. Everything to do it is here, I just have to make it a priority. I just did.

I will find a place for me. I spend too much time on the computer because there is not a place in my own house where I feel I can sit and still be close to my family but that is just mine. Maybe it's a chair in a corner, maybe it's a whole room. Regardless, I want, no, I NEED a space, and I shall find it.

Inauguration Day

“Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast . . . While our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not . . .what is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed.”

“Such enormous challenges will not be solved quickly. There will be false starts and setbacks, frustrations and disappointments . . . we will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency.”

(image of President Lincoln's Inauguration. I suspect there were not, in fact, any bologna sandwiches.)

I Guess this will make me accountable?

Notice, please, the new little ticker at the side. Inspired by Nicky's fabulous success, I have decided to try, just try, Coolrunning's Couch to 5K training program. Today was day 1. 29 more workouts and I'll be blazing a lightning fast trail around this tiny town. Or wearing out my treadmill 3 days a week. Either way... I did the requisite 20 minutes on the treadmill, then sweated it out for another 10, just because, you know, I'm like that. Then I came upstairs, got another load of laundry out on the line, threw another into the washer, cleaned the kitchen, vaccuumed, and went off to do the 3 or 4 errands I had. Came home, had lunch, and sewed for 2 un-interrupted hours!

The backing for Bevin's quilt is together, pressed, folded, and bagged with the top and order form, shoved into a Priority mailer, and on it's way to Margaret. I have most of the piecing done for Katie's #2 doll quilt (the Jacob's Ladder) and may finish that and layer it and the little Trip Around the World tomorrow. Have I mentioned how much I love fall - I get so renewed, after being completely discharged by hot, humid July and August.

I went in search of a cross stitch pattern tonight. No luck yet, though Pigley has some that look promising. I shouldn't say no luck, I did order this (left) off eBay. I think it's a companion to one I did for mom sometime before the turn of the century. Until I have it, I won't know if I have time, or if it's too late.




I hope not, I think she'll like it. This (right) is the other I did. Think they're related? me too.

Oh, I baked bread bowls, made soup (Cheedar Brocolli) and whipped up an Apple Crisp today too. Couldn't let those 300 or so calories I sweated off on the treadmill stay gone for long now, could I?

Next 4

Yeah, I know that the last "Next 4" isn't done, but it's close, and it's my list on my blog, so pffffth! Sorry, that was rude.

Okay, next 4.
#1 *Something* for a Silent Auction fundraiser for Tori's class trip. Series of (4? 6?) postcards? Wall hanging? (doesn't thrill) Lap quilt? Maybe a Branching Out scarf? I'll ponder.

#2 Crazy for Spring. Easy one. I have rows of pink and green crazy quilt blocks sewn together into strips from a Row Robin on the Quilting Forum. I'll get the strips together, then tie this one with pink ribbon at each intersection. Easy. I haven't looked at the blocks yet to see if any need more embellishment, so I may be shooting myself in the foot here. Wouldn't be the first time.

#3 Map of the World. This is a panel, easily layered and simply quilted, more or less. I'm going to use a thin batt, hand quilt around the continents (maybe countries?), then add on a twill (duck, canvas?) frame that can be written upon. Simple binding. I'm thinking that with as much ocean as the world has, a little decoartive quilting might be required - I'm thinking mermaids and sea serpents, maybe the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria sailing toward Florida and the Bluenose heading out from Nova Scotia. Geographically, but not necessarily historically accurate.

#4 Quilt for Bevin. I've only got one "Turning 16 this Year" Christmas quilt, I'm actually caught up as of this Christmas. I'm thinking of Courthouse Steps with alternating black and batik logs.

Oh, and even though I know she doesn't read this, Happy Birthday to my little sister who turns 40 today. Old bag. ;o)

Please don't let them be forgotten

In all the worrying about silly things that we do so well at this time of year, please do not let the people of Darfur be forgotten.

"We cannot stand idly by as the Sudanese government continues its systematic destruction of the people of Darfur. We are compelled by the conscience of the world to put an end to this humanitarian disaster and restore dignity and hope to the Darfuri. If we do not, we betray our commitment as the protector of human rights, and risk compromising the very nature of our own conscience." ~ Nancy Pelosi

This will break your heart.