Prevacation cranky has come over me. Next week I’m off my day job and will be able to work on anything I want to. If you’ve read my blog – you know I have a to do list. Counting the weekends, I’m going to have nine days off! I cannot wait.
I have writing and publishing goals. I have household goals. I have crochet goals. Are there more goals than I can accomplish in nine days? Probably, most definitely.
Writing has been stampeding me. I’ve written four novels with a fifth nearly done. I’ve submitted a bunch of my novels for contests. I’ve submitted a story for a book. I had a pattern accepted in a magazine, sent it off for photographing and got it back. I sold it to a friend who liked it. I’ve been editing where I can. It’s been crazy busy.
During my lunch hour and when I watch training at work, I pick up my crocheting. I’ve made pot holders and coasters. I tried a new pattern which I’m going to have to tweak because it was poorly written. However I like the idea so I’ll tweak it. I’ve fulfilled one crochet order and gotten paid.
My house is a mess. I can’t seem to keep up on it. I’ll pick up as I’m able (which isn’t much) but I have piles of laundry in my bathroom and lots of stuff sitting around in my living room. It’s starting to bug me so more effort…. unless I get too involved in writing my novel.
We painted boards for Vicki so Ken and her can build her bookshelves and a desk. The shutters we wanted to replace the plastic ones on our house went on sale with a rebate. We picked them up. Next step is to paint them and put them up. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
If things go well, I’ll have help a couple times this next week to work on more organizing, discarding, and cleaning of my house. If schedules don’t mesh, I’ll work on other things. I know my days off are going to fly by but I can’t wait to have the time to work on what I want and get stuff done and off that never ending to do list.
For next week, I’ve got specific days which I’m working with other people. Other than that I’m hoping for quiet days at home so I can do what I want, when I want, and without a lot of fussing. A lot of peace and quiet to help recharge my batteries.
We’ve been so busy. A few projects have gotten done around the house. Ken and Vicki painted the garage door and our front door. They are now a lovely purple. I LOVE how they turned out. We still have to do the back door but of course we ran out of time.
We also got our new appliances delivered. Yes, we know stainless is in but we prefer the black and I think they look great in our kitchen with the yellow walls. The dishwasher still needs to be installed but that will be next month! I cannot wait!!!
I’m still recovering from my surgery. I still get tired too easily but it’s getting better. I didn’t have a lot of pain but every now and again, I’ll touch my nose and it will twinge. It’s not really a hurt but more a sensitivity to being touched.
This last weekend we accomplished nothing other than to go to the ALA (library) conference with Vicki. She got to talk to a lot of vendors, librarians. We got a massive number of books for her job. Ken and I got a large number as well. On top of the lovely books, I spoke to some amazing people. One was a children’s book publisher who expressed an interest in my children’s book (once I get it completed). I have her card and hopefully I can make a connection. I also spoke to and gave a card to a reviewer. Interestingly, I stopped to speak to a vendor and we got to chatting. He asked what I do – i.e. why I am at this conference. I had on my tag I was an author. He asked about what I write and took my card. Now we will see if he purchases. I realized I need to get more general cards – something which promotes my writing, editing, and publishing.
I have two days off now. I’m in need of them. The conference was fun but exhausting. I’ve been spending my nights working on crochet things – currently I’m crocheting around all the fleece I have to make it into different things. I have several I’m making up for the rummage sale. I also got another set of potholders done.
I’m working on reading a book for review. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I’ve decided I’m going to take a book to work and read during my lunch hours. My to read list has gotten excessive and I miss reading.
I got my purse sent off to the publisher. I’m excited to see it in the magazine. I hope they like it. I know I do. It will be wonderful to get another publishing credit under my belt. This weekend I’m hoping we can get through some of our to do lists. All three of us have this long long list of things to get done. We’re making progress but our weekends are so busy.
I’ve been experiencing some serious crankiness over not physically being able to get things done. I know what needs to get done, but I can’t physically do it myself and the other people in my house are working on other things. It’s making anxious because there are aspects of the tasks I can do – i.e. sit and sort through things but when I physically try to shift things, or work on it, I can’t. My legs hurt, my joints hurt. It is frustrating me I can’t get more done. I was getting cranky at those in my house – even though it isn’t their fault – but now I’m recognizing what I’m doing, I’m attempting to do what I can. I’ve started a list and I’m getting someone in to help me do the things which are top of my priority list. The other people in my house all have their own lists which are as important as my list. I keep reminding myself in the end we’ll have a more organized space.
Today I’m working on some computer stuff where I need to be at my computer but then I’m going to go write. I’ve already updated my budget, sales for the last two months and other reports I do to keep track of my writing stuff.
I need to write my pagan blog and work on my web page. Once I’m done with these tasks (and hopefully in the process I don’t find more tasks) I am hoping to go write. I need to be off my legs and give them a chance to rest. I’m either going to write or I’ll watch some tv and crochet – with the dozens of projects I have going it won’t be hard to pick one or ten to work on.
The plan for the today and tomorrow – rest and recover from the last three days. My legs are swollen and painful which is what happens when I spend too much time doing and not resting. It will pass and in the meantime I’ll be busy doing things I’m able to do. The more I accomplish the less stressed I am about the things I can’t accomplish.
I would think things would slow down a bit but they aren’t. Our a/c was giving us grief so we had the HVAC people come look at it. In the process they discovered our furnace was broken to the point where it is dangerous to turn it on. Anyone who knows me knows I can run my a/c or furnace any time depending on my temperature. Our furnace had been red tagged – meaning we cannot use it at all. The HVAC guy turned off the gas so it doesn’t even turn on accidently. In all this drama, I’m starting to have a panic attack about the costs of the work. To fix the a/c it cost us nearly $200. When he told us about the furnace, it’s only seven years old, I started to freak out. However, it’s under warrantee so no cost to us (thankfully). But it still needs to get fixed. They are coming in on July 5 to fix it. Since I had to take off, I asked someone to come over on that day to help me with a few projects. The guy who is installing our dishwasher is coming on July 8. We have a ton of stuff to get done between now and then.
I’m hoping for a cooler weekend so I can get out in the garage and sort through some things which we have to decide if we want to keep or get rid of. I think Vicki has stuff she needs to sort out there as well so hopefully we can get it done in a couple of hours. Then I’ll move on to other projects. There are so many right now, the problem will be more in deciding which one than to find a project.
It is the Fourth of July weekend so I think Vicki has plans but I doubt Ken and I will do much more than hang out at home. If I can get the sorting done in the garage, I will likely need to sit with my feet up. This means crochet or writing time depending on who is around and what’s going on in the house. Either way at least I’ll be productive.
Last Wednesday I had sinus surgery. It was a day surgery where they cleaned out my sinuses, straightened a deviated septum, narrowed some bone in my nose to alleviate some of the allergic reactions I have, and removed a bone spur.
Each hospital personnel who entered my room for the first time commented on my list of things I’m allergic to. It doesn’t build confidence when the anesthesiologist asks what does work for me. Shouldn’t he know options?
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. The surgery was successful and I was home and tucked into my recliner before too long. Thursday and Friday were uncomfortable but Vicki was around to bug me and make me drink but let me sleep. I accomplished almost nothing for those three days.
Monday I had the stents taken out. I was told by someone it was extremely painful so I was a little apprehensive. I was pleasantly surprised when it was nothing more than slightly (very slightly) uncomfortable.
I left the doctor’s office being able to breath which was very nice. I came home and wrote. My afternoon was spent at my computer working on the next Wayfarer novel. Tuesday I was supposed to meet up with my niece but she couldn’t meet so I slept late, got up and dressed and sat down to the computer again. I spent four hours working on the Wayfarer novel. I’m two or three scenes from being done, drawing the final plot lines together, making them solidify into a really good (I hope) conclusion for this group of plot lines.
Wednesday I came back to work. I expected to be over tired and grumpy by the end of the day. I certainly didn’t want to fall back into the work day routine but it was nice to see my faculty and student worker. It was good to get out of the house and my head.
I’ve been working on my basket patterns. I wrote them more than a year ago and never got around to publishing them. I was less than happy with the pictures I had. While I was off, I went through the patterns, edited them (thankfully) and I’m down to half a one left. Once I get the last one done tonight, I’ll work on pictures – hopefully better than the last one. I’ll do a few group pictures and individual ones. I think the baskets will be a pamphlet, though I do have a couple places I may want to submit them to in an attempt to get them published.
Once the baskets are done, I have a bunch of fleece I want to get made up. A few pieces I’ll be keeping but most I’ll be setting aside for the sale we’re having next month. Once I’m through those pieces, I’m going to look at the themes for the crochet magazines and see if there’s anything which inspires me.
This past weekend was busy. It seemed like there was no time to do anything. I hoped for more progress than I got on my list but I don’t know when we could have done more.
Saturday I paid bills, worked on budget and we went to my sister-in-laws wedding. Sunday we went to several stores. The first was Home Depot and after that I sat in the car while Vicki and Ken went into the stores. Vicki and I did go to Joann’s. There were Ibottas and coupons. I got a lot of money back for buying yarn I was going to buy anyways and 10% back. Additionally I had a coupon for 20% off my whole order. On Sunday, I had two coupons for 60% off any regular priced item. I got two lengths of luxe fleece. This is super soft fleece which is normally $15 – $20 per yard. I only buy it when I have big coupons or it is on steep discount. I also found lace I liked for the front window. Ken had put up an dark blue ugly curtain I didn’t like on our front door. I looked through the lace. There was this gorgeous feeling white which I loved the feel of but didn’t really suit the room. Vicki picked out a color I liked but I didn’t think Ken would. I’m not sure he likes it but I do.
Monday Vicki and Ken went back to Home Depot to get a range hood. Ours has been getting louder and louder as well as working less. They picked up one. Ken came home and installed it. We discovered more strange things about how they did things in our house. The range hood is on the same breaker as our garage. Vicki and I went back to Joann’s because when we were there on Sunday we picked up some buttons on clearance. These are the fancy buttons which normally cost anywhere from $1 – $5 each but on clearance for 50 cents. When we were there on Saturday the buttons had all sorts of prices on them but they rang up as 50 cents. So Sunday we went back specifically for buttons. Vicki and I picked over what they had and then found a table to lay them all out at. We weeded through and narrowed it down. I still spent over $20 on buttons. But I got a great deal on them. Plus I got the 10% back on Ibotta.
All three days we went to Joann’s and I used coupons to save big, bought stuff on clearance, or used Ibotta to get rebates. I saved over $16 in rebates from Ibotta but in savings from the coupons and in store sales I saved over $85. I saved almost as much as I spent so really good deals.
As for what did get accomplished, I got bills paid. That was on my list. Ken finished the closet space in the family room. Next step is for Vicki and I to figure out what we want out there. I did work on crocheting all weekend. I got six sets of hand towels / dish towels done. I also prepped five fleece blankets for crocheting. I crocheted the edging for two of them. Other items I worked on, I got four pairs of earrings and four scrubbies made. I organized all the stuff which had been accumulating on my couch. I’m going to keep working on dish towels and hand towels. I have three skeins of scrubbie material so I’m going to keep making them up. All the excess crocheted items are going on the rummage and craft sale we’re going to have.
I got stuff done. I shouldn’t feel bad I didn’t get stuff done. I just didn’t get the stuff done I planned to get done. In the meanwhile, I’m going to keep crocheting and adding to my stockpile for the sale. I have excess fleece in the craft room which I plan to make up into blankets for the sale. In my head I have a list of things I want to make for the sale. I’ll see how far I get in making the stuff. I’m trying to only use the yarn I have on hand. I’m trying to use up my stash of yarns and reduce the amount of stuff I have in my craft room.
Ultimately a productive weekend but not productive for my list. Part of me says to let go of the damn list but another part of me knows I’ll forget things if I don’t keep my list.
I have the feeling I’m going to be struggling with balancing out the need to have down time while I also have a long long list of things to get done.
Things I want to get done include:
going through the garage and organizing all the things out there including bringing in the last of Vicki’s belongings
going through the back porch and organizing all the things we are storing there for the sale
cleaning and organizing the craft room
finish setting up the closet type space in the family room so the coats, scarves, etc aren’t tossed on the couch
finish cleaning the office
publishing and writing tasks
cleaning the basement (i.e. arguing with my husband about not keeping everything)
getting ready for the rummage sale I want to have
Now there is enough here to keep us busy for several weekends. I’m aware of this but for some reason, I want to get all this stuff done so we should work on it all weekend. Right? Nope. I know perfectly well I’ll be lucky to finish one of these tasks.
It may be a three day weekend but it’s also a pay weekend which means there are all the errands which go along with getting paid. I have stuff to go to the post office. Grocery shopping and other errands need to be run. We have a family wedding to attend. Preparations have to be done for next week and all of us going to work.
On the fun side, I’d love to go to a movie or spend a day crocheting and watching movies (or both). I’m well aware all three of us work hard during the week and need to have some down time on the weekends to recharge our batteries.
Realistically, I’m hoping to accomplish one or two things on my list. With the extra day, we might be able to accomplish something in addition to the normal weekend tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, and errands. I’m crossing my fingers and trying to not be cranky about it.
Where did the weekend go? Saturday I was up and dressed but didn’t do a lot. I crocheted. I’m working on a kitchen set for someone. Friday night I worked on dishcloths – lots of them. Saturday I worked on pot holders. Sunday I worked on a lot of different things.
It seems like my weekend flew by but I didn’t get a lot of stuff done. Sunday I helped Vicki in the kitchen with baking, prepping for the week and a few other things.
We’re having a rummage sale next month. I’ve been working on crochet items to sell during the rummage sale. I’ve got a few dish cloths and I had some terry cloth. Sunday I worked on cutting it up and prepping it so I could crochet around the material.
Once I’m done with the kitchen set I’m working on, I’ll work on the dish towels and hand towels. I think I might have some fleece in the craft room which isn’t claimed. If I do and I have time, I’d like to make up those so I could try selling them as well.
My goal for the rummage sale – make enough to get our dishwasher installed. We’re going to go look at the dishwasher this next weekend – during all the sales. The hope is we will have a built in dishwasher by the end of June or mid July.
From there, we will tackle other issues in the house. In the meanwhile, I’m crocheting a lot and hoping the items will sell.
My day yesterday did not go as planned. This is not a surprise to me – rarely do my days go as planned. But last night I was kicking myself for taking a nap instead of getting things done. Vicki went to bed early and I opted to work on the computer.
This meant the publishing I was going to do in the morning got done last night instead. I have eight new crochet patterns out. There are links to them on my website. They are all on the Crochet Patterns page.
My niece asked me for headbands so I created new ones for her. In doing so, I took pictures and wrote the patterns. This means there’s a new Half Dozen Thread Headbands available. She also wanted a bandana which lead to me creating Bandana X.
I had two student workers graduating – one wanted an afghan and one wanted scarves. The blanket is called Framed Tipped Lattice and the scarves are Climbing Vine, Lattice, Shades of Blue, and Sparkling Squiggle. I finished an experiment for my daughter which is really a mini scarf – Puff Chain Scarf.
I’ve got a couple more in the works but they aren’t quite ready to be published. The patterns are done, I need to work on the components.
Today, I’m working on publishing stuff until my niece gets here, then I’ll be working on cleaning and organizing my office and hopefully tackling some of the dining room. It depends on how long stuff takes us. I’m hoping we can get a long list of things done but I know my plans never work out. I’m going to go with the flow. Anything finished is an improvement. If it reduces the chaos we’re living in right now, that’s all that matters. I have two more places to market my stuff. Then I’ll be getting off the computer and start on the other stuff – I hope.
Ken has flown the coop to visit our daughters in Georgia. This means I get the house to myself (mostly). Our middle daughter has moved home so she’s there when she’s not working. However, I have the next five days off. I’ve got plans, so many plans – too many to get done in a matter of five days. This means I’ll pick and choose which of them I want to get done the most.
I’ve got household, publishing, crochet, and writing projects all on my list and all screaming at me. My house is chaos. I’m going to attempt to get one room done this weekend. I’ve gotten through a large part of the sorting but need some help. My niece is coming out to help so fingers crossed by the end of the weekend my office will be organized and clean.
If we actually manage to finish the office, the next step for me is the dining room. My dining room table is heaped with stuff. I’m hoping we can clear it off and maybe get the table out of the room. It’s an old table and too big for the space. I’ll have to see how things go but I’m hoping to get it out of there.
With any luck, I’ll get a little bit done in each category. I also have to pay bills, prep for grocery shopping, and do all the usual pay week errands and chores. I need more energy and less pain in order to get everything done I want to.
Tonight will be crocheting. I’m working on finishing projects and making things to put out when we have the rummage sale. While I veg out in front of the tv tonight, I’m going to work on either a shawl or some dishcloths.
Last night when I couldn’t sleep, I watched a show on the Spencer family in the UK (Princess Diana’s family) and made 1 1/2 dish cloths. It will be more of the same tonight.
Vicki’s usually up around 5:00 and gets me up around 6:00 so I intend to stay awake and work on several projects. While I’m alone in the house tomorrow, I want to get as much as I can crammed into the day. It will be bill paying, organizing the office, and if my legs can manage it maybe some publishing of crochet patterns. This is my plan. Now the next question is – how well will this plan go? I guess I’ll see tomorrow.
Friday, my niece comes out. Since I’ll be doing some heavy duty cleaning with her, I might take it a bit easy in the morning before she gets there. Vicki will have me up at 6:00 though so I could get more work in whether that’s crocheting or editing in my recliner or publishing crochet patterns, I don’t know yet.
At some point, I’ll have to make a grocery list, set up a menu for the next month, and clip coupons. I’ve got a lot to fit in over the next few days. I might end up needing a vacation from my vacation.
This week I’ve finished the scarves and the afghan for my student workers’ graduation gifts. I’ve given one gift which is why I’m posting the two pictures. For the afghan, I need to take pictures. I plan to publish four of the scarf patterns and the afghan pattern. This adds to my list of crochet patterns to publish. I have a bandanna, log cabin afghan, and set of headbands to publish.
The collar or cowl scarf shown on the left turned out gorgeous. I’m really proud of it because it was outside my normal and preferred type of project. The smaller yarn and projects like this are hard on my hands but it was worth it to do and redo some of the stitching. The other scarves turned out excellent and I’m excited to publish the four new ones. The necklace type scarf I love making. It uses up small bits of yarn but is stunning and versatile.
Tonight I’ll be working on dish towels and dish cloths to make for someone who is helping me out this weekend. After I get those done, I’ll be back on my other projects. Currently I have bibs for a former co-worker of Vicki’s, a skirt, a couple of afghans, and a few smaller projects which aren’t designated for anyone yet.
This weekend Ken goes off to Atlanta for twelve days. I know he’s excited to visit the girls down there. It will give him a nice break from work and our messy house.
Vicki and I plan to play a bit on Saturday. Sunday we will have help with getting things organized and settled. Next weekend will be busy with working on the house as well.
However, I’m taking off work on the 11th and hoping to get some writing stuff done – like publishing patterns. I’ll have two days with no one in the house so I plan to get up and work on anything I have for writing – publishing, writing, marketing, editing. I have a number of projects in the works so I want to make progress on them.
Ken may be gone for twelve days but it will be a busy time for Vicki and I. Hopefully by the time he comes home, the house is better organized. I’m hoping this will lower everyone’s stress levels.
Registration is done at work which means the stress level has reduced. My house is still a mess and the next two weekends are full of activities. We’ll do the activities – paint nite this weekend and an author’s event next weekend. We need the down time to reduce our stress.
Ken leaves for Georgia in May. This leaves Vicki and I hanging out on our own. I’ve got a few days off during the time he’s gone. My goal is to get some publishing, writing, and crocheting done during my time off. However, I also have some household things I want to get done.
This week has been crazy for me. I had an allergy test done on Monday. They washed my arms with alcohol which immediately started them itching. Their solution was to wash them with soap and water. I let them, though most soaps bother me. Fortunately, this one didn’t. I didn’t really find out anything new. I already knew I was allergic to the things they told me but these were more specific results.
Tuesday I left work early to see my regular doctor. He gave me my results for my MRI. There wasn’t anything to stress about – thankfully.
Today I am off to the dietician. I’ve been seeing her for few months. I like her and she has good suggestions for helping me balance out life and food. I doubt I’ve lost weight. It’s been a crazy few months with lots of eating fast food while we moved Vicki and a lot of stress eating. However, I’ve managed to stop eating out as much which is good for my checkbook and good for my body.
The elevator at work isn’t working. I spent yesterday at work but not in my office. It made it difficult for me to be involved but the floor was quiet according to my student workers. Today I’m hoping it will be even more quiet. However, the elevator is going to be down for the first part of next week. That will make it difficult on me and a number of my faculty. These are the joys of working in an old building.
I’m working on two graduation gifts. I’m creating new patterns for most of the gifts so this means new patterns to publish. The first scarf I made turned out really well. I like the design, color, length, and feel of it. Now I need to take pictures so I can publish the pattern. I started a second one last night and I’m hoping to finish it today.
This morning I’m spending a little time on the computer but hope to go back to crocheting shortly. It seems like there’s always so much for me to do with a day off and so little time to get it all done. I have to remember to keep the to do list to a reasonable length and focus on one task at a time. Part of me wants to get a bunch of stuff done but I’m waiting on things from other people to be able to do those things. This means I need to pick something completely in my control and work on it. Today, it will be crocheting and watching movies. For a couple of reasons, one – it will lower my stress level, and two – it will get things done I need to get done which has a definite deadline.
Considering I have the day off, I was up very early. I did go back to sleep but was still up by 7. Ava does not know what to do with me. She came and cuddled – yup the cat who hates me – with me for a bit. Sasha always is looking for attention from me but Ava rarely asked for attention.
It’s time to hit the recliner, find a movie and go back to crocheting. Maybe with luck, I’ll finish another scarf and start a third.. fingers crossed.
