What about January?

It has been a loooong time since I blogged.  Today I am full of thoughts and decided it's time.

Reading Glasses

'It' has finally happened.  I am one of those women who must now carry reading glasses anywhere and everywhere.  One of those women who screeches, 'that's WAY too close' if anyone expects her to see something small within a foot of her face.  This, even though I wear bifocal contact lenses.  I can only shudder to think what it would be like if there were no bifocal contacts to rely upon.  I've been keeping a pair of readers in my crochet bag for some time, for when I'm working with fine gauge yarns or dark colors in a dark room....when I visited a dollar store in December and picked up two more pair, I should have known it was A SIGN.
How to feel about this?  As long as I remember to bring the magical glasses along with me wherever I go, I feel like:  Oh well.  Such is life.

Craft Room

Yesterday, after staring for quite some time at a beautifully outfitted sewing/craft room on someone else's blog, I headed for mine with a vengeance.  The unfortunate thing is that the room I had pored over was probably 15x20 feet at a minimum, whereas mine is 9'4" x 8'9", with an angled corner cut off.  The room I so admired had such great features - a huge hutch organized with recycled baskets, a good sized fabric cutting table, an overstuffed chair and ottoman for 'visiting' family members, a sewing table and a crafting table and a household desk.  And still it looked roomy.  My little room, I'm afraid, is never going to resemble that model.  I'm not willing to put in the hours upon hours to make it so, and I'm not creative enough to make up my own repurposing plan.  Alas, at least I was motivated to reorganize, and spent much energy transforming a space where I had just thrown stuff for quite some time.  Now I have space for the serger that is on my short-term wish list!  And I've armed myself with a list of items to find at the local thrift store, for storage solutions and fun accents.  Maybe we're really getting somewhere!

Direction for 2013

While I get swept up in the whole resolution hoopla, I'm also a realist.  Am I going to look like Jillian Michaels by March?  Probably not.  Will I scale Mount Everest this summer (or ever)?  Definitely not.  I'm searching for reasonable goals to set.  I've come up with a pretty long list, all which are manageable if taken independently and with patience.

Get back to the gym after 2 or 3 months of nursing my knee with little success.  
Use the book Slow Cooker Resolution that was given to me by my hubby at Christmas.
Learn a new crochet technique.  
Get better at sewing so I can create some retail-worthy fun bags and things.  
Build my online business.  
Be quicker to listen, slower to speak, slower to anger.  
Try to note the highlights of each day, before I go to bed, so I have a very fundamental journal at the end of the year.
Be the best mom/friend/wife I can be this year.

Here's to your 2013 starting off strong.  May God be ever-present in your focus, and may you put Him first, others second, and yourself third, all while not forgetting yourself and losing all focus on the important things!

Deadline, Blown Out of the Water!

A brief update on my previous post:  While I'm by no means boycotting Facebook these days, it has not returned to its position of priority in my life.  I don't check it the moment I wake up; I don't go to sleep pondering the interesting tidbits of others' lives I read online.  I do check it a few times a day, but don't feel as if I will begin to experience dry heaves and uncontrolled shaking if I don't.  Additionally, Kayla says Facebook is becoming 'yesterday' - maybe I was just ahead of the game in my detox plan!

Now, to the yarn side of things.  After months of half-heartedly crocheting a few items, and ripping apart sweaters to reclaim some beautiful yarns, I have finally begun a serious list of items in progress and in queue.  Off the top of my head:

- The skull and crossbones purse I've designed for Mary that's partway done.

- The Missoni-inspired wrap for Blanca that's partway done.

- The Civil War era wrap for (another) Mary that's partway done.

- A flowy, angora-mohair vest for myself.

- Two hats for a friend of a friend just diagnosed with breast cancer.

- A cute vest I can wear to work.

And each of these carries a reasonable deadline, as I need to have a goal or I start many items and never truly finish anything.

Meanwhile, I actually purchased yarn on Friday, rolled it into balls that night and began this vest for my daughter Beth, then finished it today.  It could have been done much sooner if it weren't for all these interruptions we refer to as l-i-f-e, but I'm so proud that I finished it 9 days ahead of my own deadline.  It's not 2 a.m. the night before!  

Now Beth just needs to get here on the 24th, with her boyfriend Zach in tow, so I can give this to her!  I think it will be much more her style than mine!

31 Days Without Facebook

I am staunchly anti-New Year's resolutions.  I believe that resolutions made in the context of pressure from peers to create resolutions merely is fodder for self-contempt upon imminent failure.  I refuse to set New Year's resolutions; rather, I will set a goal when I'm really determined and fed up with my current status, and then pursue that goal hard.  If I want to do so in April, who are you to tell me I should wait until the following January 1 to do something so significant?

At the end of the year, however, I found myself in a situation (self-created, I fully admit) I didn't approve of.  I went to sleep at night only after reviewing all my friends' unread Facebook posts; I awoke in the morning and often checked to see what everyone else was doing before I'd start my own day.  Do I really need to know what 'everyone else' is up to that regularly?  What if I spent more time doing things that I enjoy, or that I know create good discipline?

So...on January 9, I announced to those who read my Facebook feed that I would not log on for the following month.  Today, that month has expired.  I successfully avoided logging on, with two notable exceptions: I posted a status after my car was broken into and my purse stolen January 10, warning my lady friends to not do as I did, and to keep their stuff hidden from criminals; and I confirmed a friend request from a dear girl who I could not leave hanging, since she certainly didn't know of my Facebook Diet.  On both occasions, I logged in, took the action intended, and logged out.  Even the glimpse of the new format a few days ago was not enough bait to keep me there.  Nor the begging notifications on my phone and iPad, telling me that the world cannot live without me signing on.  Yes, yes, it really can!!

What did I learn or accomplish over this month?  Off the top of my little head:

• I read a book.  Specifically, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  I loved it.  And now I'm 60% through The Girl Who Played With Fire, and I'm loving it even more.  The time I would have spent admiring all ya'll's interesting lives?  Yep, a bunch of it was spent reading.  Even more notable since I'd owned the paperback and Kindle versions of Dragon Tattoo for months, without ever getting past the first few pages.  And I hadn't read anything in quite a long time.
• I had real-life encounters with others, and none of the sound-bite updates that make me think everyone else has it better/more interesting/exceedingly more exotic than me.  Or, an even stronger way to say that, I lived in MY life.  Reality may not be pretty, but God is on my side, and I need to stay engaged.  If I need Facebook to 'take me away,' it served me well to take a step back and evaluate why.
• I learned I had self-control over this one.  I'm sure you can identify with the lame, half-hearted, "I should see if I can __________," which really holds no intent to take action.  To some, it may seem like a pretty insignificant accomplishment to stay away from Facebook for a month, but if you are one of those who wakes up to FB and falls asleep to FB, you'll understand.  
• I expanded on my crocheting hobby.  Set a goal to enter a craft show this year and see if I can actually sell some of my creations, and laid some groundwork for products and supplies.  And I also learned how to recycle sweaters into super-cheap, really good quality, yarn.  Yarn addiction, carry on....
• As I write this, it is just after 9 a.m. Chicago time.  I confirmed with a friend yesterday that I was officially done with my diet as of today, but I have not yet felt compelled to log in and catch up.  I'm sure I will, but this is no longer a driving force in my life.  Go me!!

There are other potential effects of this diet that I would like to have seen in myself.  However, I am satisfied with small steps, and am glad to have the opportunity to reflect back and see some progress.

Gee, I bet I could go a whole year without Facebook....maybe I'll start on January 1!!

Life in the Dawes Household

 

Cartoon borrowed from the Lion Brand website.  

While the 60-inch TV hasn't entered our family room yet (it could show up any day, though!) this scenario rings a little too true in our household.  Last night, my husband Tom, daughter Kayla, and I were watching a new show (Person of Interest on CBS), which was pretty promising.  However, I was crocheting while watching, and missed a lot of details...when it was over, I turned to Tom and said, "I think that's one of those shows that requires eyeball involvement."  He agreed.  Might have to set down the crocheting for a bit to give the second episode my full attention.  Or give up on the show.  We're at 50/50 odds at the moment!

Visuals are Vital

I was excited about blogging yesterday, until I realized that if I addressed my chosen topic, that would be the second post about food.  Given that this was only the second post I would have written, I thought that if I were the reader of a blog with a crafty-sounding title, I would wonder what was wrong with the author.  And since I didn't want to wander off into the vague world of self-analysis, I chose not to write.  But if I had, please know that it would have been about food (AGAIN!).

And now, for today's sharing.  I finished crocheting a baby blanket last night. Here is a photo:

I am realizing that visuals are very important to my life.  Therefore I assume they must be to you, as well.  If I hadn't imported the photo above, and wrote to you about the baby blanket I created, would it carry as much impact?  Well, that is assuming you LIKE the blanket photo, I guess...

This creation is my first 'original' design.  I don't consider it that original, since I just created a big square out of some super snuggly yarn with a simple shell stitch, then added a border with some room for ribbon.  But I see 'new' patterns posted online often, consisting of a variation of an existing design with a new color theme.  Perhaps I could sell the pattern for my shell blanket.  But I would feel as if I were cheating the system, taking advantage of the user who could come up with the same thing by buying yarn, starting the blanket, deciding it wasn't good enough, ripping it back out and trying a different pattern with new yarn, then repeating this process with an 'original' design.  Hmmmm...maybe that's why one begins with a pattern, as it usually gives nice tidy directions that create a giftable finished product on the FIRST try.

Wish there was a lesson here, I really do...

Three Cheeses - Random Musings

Today I decided to start a blog.  In general, my life is wrapped up in a few things.  Family, my relationship with Jesus, serving in some ministries, exercise, crochet.  When I sum up my life in that way, it certainly establishes some strong categories of priority.  I will ponder those later, when they are relevant, but I have already digressed from my own chosen topic.

I typically bring enough food to work to have breakfast and lunch for several days.  I like planning ahead and knowing that there are reasonably healthy choices at hand, rather than depending on the $12 lunch to follow up the $5 coffee on my way in.  When I opened the work refrigerator this morning to find something to eat, "my" half of a shelf struck me, as it had maybe 7-8 items stashed there, three of which were varying types of cheese.  Mind you, I do like cheese.  But why three kinds?  And why are two of the packages unopened?   Here is a visual for you:

Cheese calls my name at the grocery store.  It looks delicious; the names are tantalizing.  More than 50% of the time, I am disappointed with the cheese once I taste it.  A simple solution:  shop for cheese only at boutiques where I am offered samples.  Another simple solution:  purchase only the types I am certain I love.  

Ah, such simple solutions we can find for ourselves in life.  And why do we insist on repeating the same habitual mistakes??  And why, today, did I decide my compulsive cheese purchases are interesting enough to share with the world?