Here She is...

My summer project. I have posted that she was done, but now that I have taken the pictures and posted them, I can really say done. It was a fun project but I really hate weaving in the ends. I still have a lot of yarn left so I am making a giant granny in the same colors. More ends to weave in! My gr d thinks it is her blanket but I want to keep this one for myself.

Soon it will be Fall...

Although I love the Fall, to me it is the beginning of winter. I am not looking forward to the cold weather. I will miss going out every day, working in my garden, my flowers, the beach, the pool, the parks and sitting out on my deck.

But maybe I will get my crochet mojo back (I hope!). This summer I only worked on my ripple afghan. I love how it came out but it took me the whole summer and it is still not 100% done. I decided to add a picot edge and mama mia, what a pita that is. I have done 2 sides and have 2 more to go. Then I will be done!!!! I will post pics after it is complete.

In my garden, many of my tomatoes are still green and the squirrels are having a feast with them. I have to pick them as soon as they get a little pink before they take a bite. It is really pissing me off. Next year I will do my planting totally different. I planted too much in a small space and some of my plants are choking. And I need to fence off the squirrels somehow.

I have done some crafting!!! I finally completed a layout page for a scrapbook. I have been reading about it and buying supplies and tools here and there for the longest time. I was so intimidated to actually just make a page. Then one of the mothers at the park said to me just get some nice paper, glue the pictures on and put some stickers. For some reason that just made me feel I could do it. I looked through one of my books called Clean & Simple Scrapbooking by Cathy Zielske and I felt inspired to do a very simple page. It is no great work of art but it is my first page and it is the beginning of a new form of expression for me. I am happy with it.

Summer Fun

I have been very bad at blogging this summer. But that is a good thing. I have been having such a good time enjoying the weather, my grand daughter and family that I have been too exhausted to blog, crochet, craft or even cook. My house is not it's usual orderly self, the laundry is sometimes piled up, my bills are sometimes late, my fridge is sometimes low. I think my family is starting to realize what would happen if I quit. The funny thing is that it took my quitting my job to realize that I was a slave the chores. The world has not ended because we had takeout twice in one week and the laundry was not there when they wanted it! It is a pressure I put on myself and I feel foolish now. But I think I will make up for lost time from now on.

We just came back from a week at Long Beach Island. It was a fabulous family vacation. My mom, my sister and her husband, my nephew, my daughter and her husband, my little pumpkin, my son and my husband and I all shared a beautiful beachfront house. There were no fights or even any arguments. I think this is a family first. I took over 150 pictures before my digital's battery ran out. These are a just few. They speak for themselves.

So, the ah ha moment is -- enjoy life when you can. The chores will wait patiently. But life will pass you by.

I'm still alive and well

?....but I have been busy enjoying the summer with my granddaughter. I am doing all the things I could not do while my children were little, because I was a full time working mom. Now I get to go on trips, go to the pool, the beach, the park, the movies, etc. My house is a little messier and I am not cooking like I use to but no one is complaining.

My garden needs a little more care. Soon I will have tons of tomatoes and I just can't wait. i need to find some new recipes.

Hot Time In The Summer

It has been very hot and sticky here for about a week. Really feels like summer now. Too hot to cook or crochet. My daughter and I my grand daughter to Hershey Park for the weekend. It was her first time in a hotel and she loved it. I took some pics with a real not digital camera and will post them (maybe) when they get developed. I spent a day with her at Keansburg Beach at a water park and a day at Mountain Creek water park. When we are home we are outside in my pool or at the town pool. She is learning to swim and is fearless and adorable. We are really having a blast. I am so sorry I was not able to do this with my own children, but I was a work outside of the house mom. Those of you that are lucky enough to stay at home with your children enjoy every moment. Time goes so quickly.

On the flip side, I am so tired when she goes home that I have not done laundry, cooked, my house is a mess, have not paid bills (or blogged). Oh well!!! Maybe I will be a little more appreciated after this.

Today was much more comfortable. A perfect day. I spent it at the park with a playgroup. Then came home and did some laundry. Tomorrow I am going to do a playgroup at the town pool and then maybe I will throw a couple of burgers on the grill. I may even pay some bills and do a few rows on my ripple.

That's how I roll now!

STILL ON VACATION, SOME ANIMAL PICS AND A JOKE

I am still hanging with my family. We have been cooking, having cocktails, talking, hanging out by the pool. Tons of dishes, dirty towels, laundry but lots of fun. We went to the Bronx Zoo. This place is amazing. I never get tired of it. We are leaving for Hershey Park for the weekend. The kids will have a great time. Monday I will be going to a water park with my little pumpkin and then try to get my house and myself back to normal.

AND NOW MY ANIMAL JOKE. (please if you are offended easily... don't read further!!!)

A monkey is sitting in a tree smoking a joint when a lizard walks past and looks up and says to the monkey, "Hey! What are you doing?" The monkey says, "Smoking a joint, come up and have some!" So the lizard climbs up and sits next to the monkey and they share a few puffs. After a while the lizard says his mouth is dry and is going to get a drink from the river.

The lizard is so stoned that he leans too far over and falls into the river. A crocodile sees this and swims over to the lizard and helps him to the side, then asks the lizard, "What's the matter with you?" The lizard explains to the crocodile that he was sitting smoking a joint with the monkey in the tree, got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink.

The crocodile decides he has to check this out, he walks into the jungle, and finds the tree where the monkey is sitting still finishing the joint. The Crocodile looks up and says, "Hey!" The Monkey looks down and says... "Fuuuuuuuuck, dude... how much water did you DRINK?!"

I hope you all had a great 4th of July. We had bad weather so we hung around the house and went out for dinner. No reservations needed.

I LOVE AMERICA!!!

On Vacation

I am not going away, but my family is coming to visit from Florida for a week. I will be busy entertaining and spending time with my house guest. No crochet and no blogging. Hopefully I will have some good pictures next week.

Searching For People With Big Hearts

I don't normally do stuff like this, but I should. I have been looking for a charity and stumbled across this one in one of the cal sites. It is perfect for me right now, since I have many scraps from my ripple and a square at a time seems about all I can handle.

I know many of you crocheters do charity work, so if you would like to add another good cause to your list, check this one out.

A Very Good Day!

Today was my idea of a perfect day.

• Got 10 hours sleep (with help from Ambien)


• Pumpkin woke me up at 7:30 am


• Watched Sponge Bob in bed, drinking coffee and hot chocolate


• Breakfast out on the deck


• Lunch with great grandma


• Went for a swim in our little pool


• Leftover sausage and peppers and pasta salad for dinner


• Glass of wine alone after everyone went home!!!


• Life is good!!!

Thank You

I get a lot of emails with interesting stuff, funny stuff and some things that just make you say huh! But this just touched the inside of my heart. I have a 22 year old son, almost 23. I nag him constantly, complain about what he does and doesn't do. But I cannot imagine the pain of losing a son or daughter. I feel so indebted to the young men and women giving their lives for their country. And my heart goes out to the families that are suffering such an unimaginable loss. Whether or not I support this war and I will not go into the politics of it. I support our soldiers, their families and all those affected by it.

I wish I knew how to post this video directly on the blog, but I can only put a link. Please check this out. This woman is awesome!

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/hancock/

I am in love with my ripple. The colors are so warm and refreshing at the same time. It makes me happy to look at it, touch it. But I am hating those ends. I always try to avoid projects with a lot of color changes for that reason. This is one project that is worth it. It was supposed to be 10 colors and I left one out, the teal. Now I have to figure out if I should just skip it or work it in somewhere. The colors are named after food, grape, honey, chocolate, berry, bordeaux, so I get hungry every time I look at it... :D I am supposed to be doing laundry, so I have to go. Just could not wait to share!

Wow Time Flies When Your Having Fun

I just spend the entire evening on-line. Why? Who knows, but it seems once I sit down in front of the computer, an hour turns in 4 or 5! I ended by reading my entire blog. It really is nice to have a record of one's life like this. But in reading it, I noticed that time really does fly. Everything seems like it was just yesterday. Really! My little pumpkin is getting to be a big girl and I am getting to be an old lady. What's up with that? And I realized that I need to stop complaining about life beeing stressful, etc. Because just when things get all comfy, cozy, warm and fuzzy; something happens to screw it up again. I need to just chill out, smell the roses, drink the coffee.

Something else I noticed, we started working on fixing up the house last November. Christmas came and we dropped the ball. At this rate we will be rushing to get things done for Christmas again. And what's up with that?

Gotta go, need to make a list for my dh... :D

Starting The Ripple

I have been lurking The No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along for weeks. It has given me a whole new inspiration. I was on the verge of feeling burned out by crochet. Another shawl, shrug, scarf, sweater? I just wasn't feeling it. Then I found this Ripple-Along. Not sure how I got there but the creativity and use of color with such a simple classic pattern is just what I needed. Just looking as the beautiful creations that this group is working on, gave me just the boost I was looking for. In addition to the never ending display, I have also found a whole new set of blogger. They are so talented and creative that I feel renewed and excited about trying new things. I am starting my afghan tonight. This will be an ongoing project and I will also be working on small projects here.

I will also be starting to put together a scrapbook for my dh. I hope I find something to give me a push on this project. I have been dragging my a$$ on this one for a long time and father's day is coming. I hope to have something by then.

Summertime

It is not officially summer but it sure feels like it. I have been busy for the couple of weeks working outside. Going to the nursery for plants, weeding, turning the soild, trimming my bushes, planting flowers in the beds and in the pots. That is such hard work and it has been so hot, I don't understand why I have not lost a ton of weight!!! I still need to add topsoil to the vegetable bed and plant my tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. It is a small bed so I put my herbs in pots. Lots of basil, some mint, thyme, and italian parsley. I still need to get some rosemary and some cilantro.

It has been very hot here and my pool is not open and I don't know when my dh will have time to open it so I got my little pumpkin a new kiddie pool and filled it up for her. She really loves playing in it and it gave me a little free time to play with the dirt. Hopefully, I can get the veggies in the ground tomorrow. I am getting a late start this year.

At last a picture of my hot pink beauty. It is the half moon shawl from the Lion Brand Website. I finished it a couple of weeks ago but did not get a chance to post it until now. I made it with LB Woolease and it is really warm. I won't be wearing it anytime soon but I LOVE it. Originally, I was going to give it as a gift. It is just too nice to give away to someone that cannot appreciate the labor of love put into it. My dd was drooling and hinting but did not give in. I will probably make her one in the future. My next project is a multi colored ripple for a ripple along. When finished it will go on my couch in the TV room. The yarn has been bought and so far I love the colors.

Happy Friday & Memorial Day

I have been very busy this week. My daughter has been home for the past 6 weeks due to a medical problem. Most of this time she has been blue and in pain. But last week, mama mia, she snapped out of it and has been keeping me on the go. We have spent many hours pulling weeds, digging up plants, shopping in the garden stores. Every bone in my body hurts! But it has been fun. My little pumpkin has been tagging along as our little helper. She is so cute I just can't stand it. Today we are going up to the outlets at Woodbury Commons and then making pizza on the grill for dinner. Have you ever tried that. It is easy, tasty and fun! Sunday, my family will be coming by for a BBQ. That means I have to food shop and clean on Saturday. Monday, I am meeting my bff's for breakfast and then I hope to relax and maybe start my ripple blanket.

I finished my half moon shawl. I wish I had a picture to show you. It came out so beautiful, I just love it. I was going to give it as a gift but this one is going to be a gift for me. I used Lions Woolease Chunky in deep rose. I can't wait to wear it, but it is just too hot now. I am hoping to take it with me when I go down the shore for those cool ocean breezes.

Have a great weekend everyone. Hope to have some pictures soon.

Quick Update

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day. Mine was a little strange but nice. My sister decided to cook dinner for us on Saturday because my brother could not come on Sunday and we all usually hang out together on holidays like this. This worked out good for my daughter (I thought) because she could then spend time with her in-laws on Sunday. Of course, I ate too much and drank too much (as usual). Sunday woke up feeling like crap! Stayed in my pj's all day, watched TV, cleaned out my closet. But since we all got together the day before, it did not feel like Mother's Day. We did not do the big breakfast thing and I was pretty much feeling sorry for myself :( But my husband surprised me and redeemed himself. And got me this beautiful necklace and bracelet. This may sound crazy, but I was a little disappointed. !! Don't get me wrong, I love it and him for feeling I deserve it. But I felt that something was missing. I think I would have preferred a big fuss, breakfast and maybe a smaller gift.

Nah, I'll just keep what I got!!!

No Place Like Home

We are home and we had a great time. We spent 7 days on the beach doing nothing. I am almost done with a book I started on the plane. We took a walk every morning,ate nothing but fresh fish and vegtables, drank rum and that's about it. On Thursday, I told my dh, "Why don't we do something today?" and he replied, "why, do we have to?" Well, of course we don't have to! So, nothing but beach, no shopping, no sight seeing, no crochet, no internet, very little tv and no phone! Very relaxing. I wish I had tons of pics to share, but on my first day, after taking tons of pics, I noticed an error message on my camera. NO MEMORY CARD!!!! Oh well.
We spent a few days visiting my sil in Orlando, FL before we came home. It was very nice, since we don't get to see her very often. Then back home. Can't wait to sleep on my own bed, with my own pillows. But when I wake up, where's the beach!!!

But there's no place like home!!!

See You Soon!

I am happy to say that I will be on vacation this week. I can't remember when I needed it more. We are going to Abaco in the Bahamas. We go there every spring to just decompress and veg out. Very low key vacation. Lay on the beach to tan, read a book, long walks, waterfront dining and not much else. Sounds like heaven. There is a lot going on at home right now and I am having a hard time just letting go but sometimes I have to put myself first.

Have a great week all. I hope to bring back some nice pictures.

Turkeys???

What a surprise when I walked out my door !!! Are these wild turkeys on my lawn? But why? I don't exactly live in a rural town. My grand daughter was delighted and wanted to keep them. I had to hold her back because I don't know if they are aggressive or not. They hung out for a while. I stepped away for a few minutes and they were gone. Do these birds fly? I think I will have to do some research.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin

Yesterday was my grand daughter's birthday. Three years old already! A little gymboree party with her friends and cupcakes. Life is good.

Some Pictures!!!

I finally was able to upload some pictures from my camera. I want to share some things I have finished. Although, it has been so long since these were done, it almost seems silly to post now! The first is a Baby It's Cold Outside sweater. These are so fun to make.

The next one is my first attempt at a ripple afghan. I did not use a pattern for this. I used the stitch encyclopedia as a guide and stopped when I felt it was a good size. My next one will be for a ripple-along and will be multi-colored stripes.
And last but not least is my round ripple I made for my grand daughter. She uses it to watch tv on the couch or to cuddle with nana in bed. I love making these! They are fun and go really quickly. I plan on making a couple to save for the next baby gift I need.

Welcome Sunshine

The sun is out today and weather is warm. My basement is almost dry! It should be a beautiful weekend, weatherwise. I feel as if the fog is clearing. So many things have happened; in the country, to my family, to my house. I think we can all use a pretty spring day to forget and heal.

Tomorrow is my pumpkin's 3rd birthday. Very low key this year. Gymboree for the little ones, coffee and cake for immediate family. She is so excited, it is a pleasure to watch. Life is so simple when you are 3. It warms my heart.

I have joined a ripple along and I am very excited to start a project with no deadline, that is just for my enjoyment. So excited that I ordered $120 of yarn yesterday. It was so much fun to pick the colors. I am making it very colorful! This will be a comfortghan for myself.

My swerve shawl is going to the frog pond. I substituted Lion Woolease Chunky yarn and the gauge was way off, so instead of a shawl, it is more like a curved scarf or a large collar. I love the yarn and the color, so I think I am going to try the half moon shawl.

I also received my Edgeroo, ordered some fleece so I can't wait to try it. My only concern is that the instructions say you should do it on a ceiling tile because you need something to cushion when you punch holes in the fabric. That never occurred to me and I don't have or want a ceiling tile. I will just wing it, or maybe ask around and see what others did.

I order a couple of scrapbooks and am getting closer to actually creating a layout page for some of my photos.

As you can see, I practice retail therapy. I also have crafting ADD. My daughter is always asking me why I can't wait until one project is done before I start another. I don't know why. Sometimes I think the planning and the shopping are more fun than the doing. But this is it for now. I will not plan another project until these are well on there way.

I hope I can post some pictures soon. I think the reason things are not working for me on my computer, is that I have the new Vista OS. I have heard from others that there are a lot of bugs in it. My dh comes home this weekend (he travels a lot for work) and hopefully he can make it work.

Have a great weekend all. Those of you that have this beautiful weather, I hope you get to enjoy it. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you that have lost a loved one.

Life Goes On

A lot has happened since I last posted and unfortunately not all good. Out of respect for the privacy, I cannot share the details. But we suffered a loss on Easter Sunday. The cold dreary weather was perfect for us, because we were so sad. We are now healing and moving forward.

I still have not had time to upload pics of my fo's. One day I will figure it out and post them all (it's not that much really). For now I just want to share a few things that I am doing to keep my mind occuppied and my fingers busy.

I finished the two toddler ponchos and the two baby sweaters that were commissioned by my sister's co-workers. I am so glad to be done with them! Nothing stresses me out than working on something that I have to charge for. I never think it is going to be good enough. Of course, they loved them. So much so, that in addition to paying me, they gave me a gift certificate to Lord & Taylor. I thought that was really nice of them. I never got to take pics, so I asked for the moms to send me some of the babies wearing them. Hopefully, I will be able to post them soon.

I was feeling a little burned out from churning out one project after another. So I thought I would take a little break. As soon as I decided that, I start finding things I want to make. I am making this cute little doll outfit that for my little pumpkin's doll. I am really enjoying making it and now I want to make a whole doll layette with all my scrap yarn.

While watching "All About My Mother" with Penelope Cruz (which I highly recommend), I fell in love with a shawl she was wearing while sick. It seemed soft and warm and very comforting. I spent many hours trying to find a pattern similar to it and the closest I could come was this one from Moda Dea. The bottom of hers was like this, but the top was more solid. Almost like a blanket. As I was making this one, I really started to like it. I did not use the yarn suggested, I used this in Deep Rose. It is fun to make and goes really fast. I can't wait to wear it and will probably make another one if I can find the right yarn. It should be very bulky and very soft (sounds expensive!).

I have been restless lately and when that happens I tend to shop. My latest obsession is scrapbooking. So far I have not made any pages, just bought supplies! I really want to do this but I am a little intimidated. But I am getting there.

Then while reading the 'ville I found this free baby blanket pattern, which I love, love, love. I have to make it and put it away for a future lucky baby.


















Now this blanket led me to this blog. And then I saw this ripple blanket and it was love at first site. I love the simplicity of it and the beautiful use of colors. So now I have to try and make one for myself, with my own choice of colors. I want something that will go with the colors in my house which are more earthtones.
















I also bought and EdgeryDoo because I want to make some fleece blankets with crochet edges.

So now it looks like I have my projects lined up for a while. Time heals and life goes on. Thank you for visiting :)

Another Beautiful Day

I promised pictures, but in transferring data from one computer to another the program I used is gone forever. Dh loaded the one that came with the camera. Great! But I don't know how to use it :-( By the time I have time to play with it, he is fast asleep. So I will have to postpone show and tell until I can get him to sit with me.

I have really enjoyed being outdoors for the past two days. On Tuesday, it felt like early summer. I took my little pumpkin to the zoo and Van Saun and then to the playground they have there. I am so out of shape, that by the time we left, I was dead tired. My gd kept asking me to carry her, but I need someone to carry me. The park was packed and of course we had to park at the furthest parking spot. We got to the zoo at 1pm got home after 5pm. I got home so exhausted, I could not cook. Pizza never tasted so good! Had a glass of wine, watched American Idol, life felt good.

Wednesday, I woke up a little tired so I did not want to do as much walking. But I took pumpkin to a play group, then to the library (she loves it) we had lunch outdoors and then went home. Another good day.

I did manage to cook dinner! However, I just don't know how some people do it. Three years ago, I quit my job to stay at home with my gd and my dd could go back to work. I thought it would be great to be able to be home and work on things I never got a chance to. I thought I would be able to pursue some hobbies, maybe start an online business. Start projects on my home that I never got around to. Ha, I have never had so little time to myself. I only manage to crochet at night while the rest of my family sleeps. I have a difficult time keeping the house clean, doing the shopping, laundry, cooking. I am beginning to feel that I am inept. I used to manage all this with a full time job. Yesterday, my dd tells me they are trying to have another baby and she hopes to be pregnant by the summer. Of course, I am happy to be a nana again. But, OMG, how can I handle 2. I really think I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I am just old. I didn't feel old until I stopped working, what's up with that?

Ok, I really don't want to complain. I don't want to give myself some bad karma or allow myself not to enjoy what I have. I need to count my blessings and hope for the best.

Funk Over!

I have been a very bad blogger, I know. I just could could not get out of my funk. I tried, believe me. Don't know which was worse, the weather, all of us being sick from January thru March, my little pumpkin getting pnemonia (I think that's how it is spelled) or the fact that my computer was so slow I was better off writing a letter and mailing it to all of you!

BUT, guess what??? We have all finally gotten better, the weather is warmer, and I have a new computer. We finally broke down and forked over the cash for a new one. It was hard to hand over all that $$ knowing that in a few years it will be useless again. For now, I am loving the new toy.

I have managed to crochet a few things, but even that was a struggle. I felt as if I was burned out on crochet. Now that is really a funk. I will post some pictures of my fo's as soon as I figure out how. I am now working on two baby sweaters, two toddler ponchos that were commissioned by my sister (she said "don't be afraid to charge me!", so don't worry I won't) and a baby it's cold outside sweater as a gift for a new baby. Why is it that I love to make stuff as gifts, but when it's commissioned it seems like a chore. Do any of you feel that way? Of course, I waited until the last minute to start them and now I feel rushed.

This week, if the weather is in any way decent, I plan to be outdoors with my grand daughter most of the day. I promised her we would go see the animals at the zoo and go to her favorite park and she never forgets. Plus, I need to move that body! I must lose 5 pounds before the end of April because I am going on vacation to the Bahamas and I do not plan on getting new clothes. Everything I own is so very tight, I feel like a sausage. We'll see how that works for me.

Well thanks for visiting, pictures coming soon.

Is it Spring Yet!!!

It has been a long winter, even though it was relatively warm until a few weeks ago. But I feel like I have not been able to get back into the swing since the holidays. In early November, it was a mad rush to redo my house for the holidays. That combined with the holiday shopping, baking, cooking, entertaining and watching my 2 1/2 yo gd from 7am to 7pm, 5 (sometimes 6) days a week left me feeling totally wasted. I like what we did, but there are still so many little things that need to be taken care of. Then comes January - February. It seems everyone I know and love is an aquarian, including myself. So, the shopping, cooking, celebrating continues. And everyone gets sick. It feels like weeks since we were all healthy. By the time Valentines comes along, I am so over it! So this year, I did not buy or receive any Valentines gifts. And now that it's all over, I feel bad. I say this almost every year. Next year I need to keep it together until after Valentines. That is when the holidays are over for me. I did not give any handmade gifts this year so I now have to make up for it on birthdays, mothers and fathers day, etc. Wow, I am getting too old, I cannot keep up anymore.

It's My Birthday...

My hubby took me into New York for dinner and a show and we spent the night in a fabulous NY hotel.

We saw Mama Mia! I had heard that this was a good show, but I had no idea how much I would love it. We had great seats. The music brought me right back to my youth. It made me want to dance and sing. The performers were outstanding and the set was just perfect.

It was such a feel good show. I left with a big grin on my face. I loved it so much that I could see it again tomorrow.

I normally do not like a lot of attention on my birthday. Just a simple expression of love and a little acknowledgement is all I need or want. But I must say that this was a perfect way to spend a birthday. Thank you babe, I love you! I think I am spoiled forever.

My Good Friend's Wedding

My friend has been hoping to meet someone to share her life with for a long time. Because she is was not willing to settle for just anyone, she was starting to get discouraged and thinking that it would not happen for her. But then she met a man that she thought was not her type. But he turned out to be sweet and caring. The kind of man you know will be there for you. And he turned out to be the one. On Feb. 3rd, 2007 she had a very simple but beautiful wedding. I am so happy for her, and wish her a long happy marriage. May they grow old together and love and support each other through the good and the bad.

Oh Cara Mia

I made this set for my grand daughter with some Cara Mia in coral I got from the clearance bin at AC Moore. I love this yarn it is very soft and warm. I really wish it was not discontinued. I trimmed it with some SWS in geranium with is also very nice.

I am still alive!!

I have not been keeping up with my blog in the new year. I almost considered closing up shop but decided to try to keep it going. My house is still not back to normal. I got the holiday stuff put away, but now we are working on the kitchen. Nothing major, just cosmetic things like paint, curtains and reorganizing but right now my kitchen totally disorganized and that makes me feel un- put together. One of my goals for the new year is to get my house and myself and my finances in order. I have just too much stuff from a lifetime of too much shopping. I realize now that stuff creates work and I want to simplify everything. But I have a lot of work to do before I can get to that point. I hate clutter and I have a hard time throwing things out. I am not a pack rat but some things are really nice and so I try to give them away or donate. I can't wait until I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right now it seems no where in sight.

I have picked up the hook again. . I have stayed away from the yarn shops because I don't want to buy until I make a dent in my stash. I have some really nice yarns that I fell in love with at the store and then just never made anything with them. I have been making hats and scarves to give as gifts. I will post pictures soon.