A Bit Longer Post than Yesterday - LOL

I have a bit more time today, so we're back in business. Although, the dental appointment I thought was scheduled for Tuesday actually is scheduled for Thursday (calendar mixup on my part). So, I'll be tight on time again tomorrow. Still, I finally get a day off today, and I really need it. I have NOTHING to eat in my refrigerator, so grocery shopping, etc is essential, as well as a day in the kitchen. 

It's going to be a VERY busy "Day Off" and it's the only 
day I get this week, so I'll grab it by the horns and make 
the most of it. 

The store is starting to look really good - cleaned up, spruced up, and almost ready for whatever Travis will assign to me next. The basement, where DH has worked exclusively for more than two weeks, is looking better than it did when we moved in. Shocking! That was a TON of work on his part, and I really appreciate his efforts. 

Although it's not the holidays any more, this 
still looked like a good photo to add here - LOL. 

But we still have a lot to accomplish, and a lot to get ready. I probably won't take much of a breath, but Travis is guiding us along through this process, step-by-step. Although almost everything is also available in his book, being in daily email contact with him (and he's good with responding quickly to questions), is working out quite well. We're sticking to the detailed timetable that he provided to us, and if I had any hair, I would certainly have gained a few grey ones from this process. 

I strongly suspect that Travis is a bit older 
than this photo (although it's a great photo). 
Still, if he can help us get the store closed, 
his fees will be more than worth it. And he's 
in contact with me every day, or responding 
to questions I have for him every day. So I'm 
taking advantage of his experience and advice. 

Of course, having our internet at home crash last week wasn't a great thing either, but we're back up and running. I had a wonderful technician who was sent out by Xfinity, and after he isolated that it wasn't inside the house, he started looking at the lines and connections outside. Apparently there were some issues with connections at the rooftop level, so he was on a ladder dealing with that. But it really didn't take long, and we were up and running once again. Thank goodness! 

It seems like all of my days recently mirror this 
crazy cartoon. Things will get better, but we 
still have a LONG way to come. 

So, I hope your day runs smoothly. I'm going to be doing my absolute best to make sure that MY day is smooth today because only one day off in the week means everything has to click in like clockwork. Be kind, smile, Slava Ukraine, and ICE out!. 

No Time!

Sorry guys! I'm completely out of time today to post. I'll be back tomorrow with, hopefully, a bit more time to chat. Have an excellent Tuesday. 

Slava Ukraini. 

A Short Post for a Monday Where I'm Running a Bit Late

I had plenty of time when I awakened this morning, but after 45 minutes on the treadmill, a nice comfortable shower, making two cups of tea, and catching up on some emails, my time has compressed into OMG, I have NO time! Funny how that works sometimes - LOL. 

I'm out of time. I need to eat my breakfast and get over 
to the shop.

But, it's a Monday. The start of another work week. I don't get Chickie on Mondays, so I'm always working twice as hard because DH is almost zero help with customers. Just getting a short break for lunch often doesn't happen on Mondays. But I'll try - I do consider that short break in the day to be rather essential. 

We had a lovely, if hot, day at Ren Fest yesterday. We 
wandered here and there and everywhere, saw friends, 
and people watched. 

We had a lovely day for Ren Fest yesterday - perfect weather. We stayed a bit longer than anticipated, but that was fine. We ended up with a great parking spot and didn't have to part at the far end of the known world as we have had to do a couple of times. I saw friends, got hugs and "hello"s from a variety of people, and the weather couldn't have been much better. My kind of day. 

We started the day at Ren Fest with a beverage and 
an Egg Flip. It's egg and cheese and other things 
put into a thick piece of bread that's been sliced 
down 80% of the way, so the egg mixture gets stuffed 
into the bread. It's very tasty. I think next time I'll 
ask for it in a bowl, however. Much less messy to eat. 

So, because I'm out of time, I'm out of here. Have a wonderful Monday and I'll be back tomorrow morning, hopefully with a bit more time to write a blog post - LOL. Slava Ukraini. 

Christmas is Almost Here and I STILL Have Cards to Mail Today *sigh*

I didn't get enough done yesterday, and I'm still running in place. It seems to be quite common recently. Several of you will be getting your holiday cards late - I'm sending most of the final ones out today. I think I've finally managed to update my address list with the correct addresses, and everything should arrive correctly. Not promptly, but correctly. It's the best I can do this year. 

I'm sending the final holiday cards out today. It took 
a bit of time to get all of the address changes into 
my system and updated. A lot of you moved over the 
past year (a lot being more than five people). 

I spent yesterday working out the final sort of the Holiday Cards addresses and filling out the database appropriately, and I shoveled the small amount of snow we had on our walkways and driveway, groaned over bills to be paid and knew I needed to hit DH up for money (since I don't actually get paid, it's really his responsibility, but he complains mightily every time), and I cooked. I made baked fruit, I made a lovely vegetable soup, and I made my "Ogre Juice" for the upcoming week. 

I made a batch of Bob's Vegetable Soup yesterday, and 
it turned out lovely. I forgot to add the turkey kielbasa 
I had purchased to add to it, so I'll just add that one 
portion at a time. It'll be just fine - very taste on these 
cold Minnesota days. 

I took a short time to go to my local Barnes & Noble, looking for a specific book that DH wants, but the checkout line was HUGE and I decided to flee and order the book from B&N online instead. They didn't have exactly what I wanted in stock in any case, so standing in line would have been a worthless event. I've been wrapping DH gifts for several days now - every day or two something else appears in his pile. I hope his curiosity is piqued, but you can't ever tell for sure. I know my own area has remained pristine except for my wrapped mixer box. He tends to populate my area quite late. 

DH loves getting his current Almanac, but 
last year was a bust - they didn't have the 
correct year, and this year they were sold out 
again. So I ordered it online instead. It might 
come late, but it'll be the correct volume. 

I also have a shopping bag with wrapped gifts for Chickie and Chickie Mama. Sharon's items have already been mailed, so except for the last few holiday cards (which are always welcome, whether they arrive for a specific holiday or not), I'm actually somewhat on time. Somewhat - LOL. But when I look around me, I'm saddened. My life is a mess right now. I like order and specific locations for items, and I can't seem to keep things orderly or neat, no matter what season lately. The gift I need more than anything is time, and that's one gift I very much doubt will be given to me. Oh well, I just had to kvetch, you know? LOL Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. 

Time Is Flying By - Updates on This and That and Fence News

Chickie is taking a day of vacation today. Her cousin flew into town last night, and Chickie and Chickie Mama are driving him down to northern Iowa today to attend his grandson's college graduation. At least I think it's a college graduation, not a High School graduation. Still - I don't know for sure, so we'll just call it a "Graduation". In any event - one of those milestones in a kid's life. So Dennis flew into the Twin Cities last night, they're driving him to his son's place today, and then return to the Cities tonight. It's only a 2-3 hour drive, so not horrid, and the weather should be kind. 

Graduation is always an event - High School or College. 
It's one of those milestone events in life, and should be 
acknowledged and celebrated. Congrats to all of you who 
may have friends or family graduating. Enjoy the event 
and celebrate the next stage of life for these grads. 

In many ways, I'm grateful that I don't deal with a lot of family things. I'm in the older generation for my nieces and nephews. That means I get invited to events, but just a short list of them. I don't get invited to every event - the kid's performances, sporting events, and minor graduations are kept in a closer circle of family. Since DH and I are rather solitary people, that's just fine with us. 

Here is Lexi, wrapped in her blanket and holding her 
eagle feather. I have a feeling that this graduation will mean 
more to her in years to come than the official one where 
she'll receive her diploma will. 

My oldest grand-niece,  Lexi, is finishing her senior year of High School, ready to start college at a fine private college in the general area this coming Fall. Her high school has a strong Native American group, and they held their own graduation event for the NA students earlier in the week. Lexi was given traditional gifts - a lovely blanket and an eagle feather. She's a registered Native American woman, so has the legal right to have an eagle feather. I do hope she knows how to wrap it and care for it, but I'm sure someone will teach her. It's not up to me, although I certainly could step up and do that if called upon. 

Not that you need reminding, but I have this HUGE 18 foot 
gap in my fence from where the posts rotted out. The rest 
of the fence is also falling apart. It will be a delight to have a 
new, strong fence again. We got almost 20 years from the old 
fence, so that's not too bad. We probably won't be living in 
this house any more when the replacement starts to rot out. 

I had a call from my fence people yesterday, and they'll be out on Tuesday to tear down the remainder of the fence and pour the new fittings for the fence posts. I'm not sure how long it will be before they'll install the new panels, but we're one step closer to having our yard back once again. We've been very careful to keep the open distance they require while we were planting our garden. We're not taking responsibility for our wayward ferns, however. If they get stepped on and broken, I have a few hundred available and we won't really miss a single plant or two. 

I find it odd that Rosemary still has the original 
"Leave a message" recording on her phone, but 
then again, why change it? It's her husband's 
voice, probably recorded shortly before he went 
into a long-term care facility. 

So, since I'm working today, I have to get going. I was finally able to leave a phone message for Rosemary yesterday - I called her from work on the land line, and the call finally went through to her answering machine. It's odd - she's still got her husband's voice on the "leave a message" recording. He died several years ago, and was in a care center, then hospice, for a few years before. I'm quite surprised she's kept his recording on the answering machine, but then again, it's a reminder of a strong marriage that lasted for many, many years. 

Time is a precious commodity - one of those things that 
can never be recaptured, once lost. Choose what you spend 
your time with carefully. You don't want to waste any of 
this rare and precious gift. 

I'm off and running. I have to work for Chickie, so no time to waste. Thanks go out to my hockey friend in Nebraska for the wonderful birthday gift of four hockey DVD's. Absolutely FABULOUS. I actually went on to B&N to buy the book for "Indian Horse: A Novel" by Richard Wagamese. I'm looking forward to reading it. One of the DVDs is in French, which I don't speak, but hey - it's hockey. I'll figure it out, and I think there are English subtitles as an option. So ... WHOOT. A great and very unexpected gift from an on-line friend. 

Well, since I have to work today, I have to get things moving. Tempus fugit! Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back to wrap the week up tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. 

Time - Both Friend and Enemy and A Product to Recommend

I awakened early, so took time with my morning meditation and answered comments and emails. So ... of course, that time I had has now evaporated. Strange how that can happen - LOL. 

It's rather amazing how time can work. You can look at a 
segment and think "Oh, that's plenty of time to do X", and 
then realize, half-way into the task, that time has 
evaporated and there isn't enough time for the task 
after all. 

I tried a new product yesterday, and it actually saved me from tossing an item into the recycling. It's a product called "Bottle Bright" and it's fabulous! I had a Contigo coffee carafe that I had been carrying my tea back and forth from work daily for several years. The tea stains were absolutely BAKED onto the inside, despite daily cleaning. It was disgusting. So I bought a new one and was going to toss the old one. 

I think I had added this to an Amazon cart, just on 
a whim. But I highly recommend it. It works a charm! 

I had purchased this product earlier, thinking to keep my new coffee container from the same fate. I decided to use it on the old container - a "test run" so to speak. I did have to use it both in regular mode and a second tablet in their super-clean mode, but when I rinsed and brushed the container out this morning, it looks NEW! It's a total shock! Of course, I had already tossed the screw-top lid and the rubber heat protector for safe handling *sigh*. But, I might be able to buy a new lid and I can probably cobble together a new sleeve. If you have really scuzzy drink containers, I highly recommend "Bottle Bright". 

My coffee mug was similar to these in style. 
Unfortunately, I'm missing the lid and the 
rubber sleeve. But the container itself, is 
now beautifully clean! 

Apparently we got one shipment delivered into the store yesterday, and others are on their way. DH will be working at the shop today (which will be inconvenient, at a minimum), so he'll be monopolizing the store computer for the day. Ugh! I suspect he'll be at the shop all week, instead of the usual three days. It's always a PITA when he's there - he tends to really get into everyone's way. If he's just sitting at the keyboard and not interacting with anyone, that's fine, but he usually can't keep his mouth shut. *sigh*

It's not a huge problem to shift schedules at the 
beginning of the week. It's a bit harder later on, though. 

So, I'm off. The pool is calling me. They have the chlorine situation resolved, so it's swimming yesterday, today and tomorrow to get my three days in this week. A bit of a schedule shift, but not too horrible and one I've done before. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Seasons and Getting My Ducks in a Row - Focus, Focus, Focus

After a few days of Summer's last "hurrah", we're diving back into Autumn quite quickly now. It was lovely having a last few days of heat and sunshine, along with the rains of Autumn, but I doubt we'll be seeing temperatures in the upper 70's and into the 80's (F) again until next year. It's October, and we're moving into harvest and wrapping up the year before allowing it to sleep a restorative sleep over the winter months. 

The seasons will progress, whether we want them to 
or not. I have friends who are anxiously awaiting the 
snows of winter, but me ... I'm already looking forward 
to the milder days of Spring - LOL. 

My schedule for today has been thrown totally out of whack. While flossing my teeth yesterday morning, my floss caught and lifted the cap of a crown. I pushed it back immediately, of course, but dropped by my dentist on my way to the shop to see if they could fit me in to get it re-glued and cleaned. They agreed that would be wise, and managed to squeeze me in at 7:30 am with one of the dentists - probably one I haven't seen before. But it should be relatively simple, only a problem because of my braces. 

By this time, I probably have all of these things in 
my mouth. I caught the lip of a crown on a back 
tooth yesterday, and think it should be re-glued. 
It probably won't be easy because of the 
hardware, but it's necessary. 

I got a fair amount done at the shop yesterday, probably could have done more, but I'm not sure what the priorities are just now. If I have some time, I'll phone customer service regarding DH's website and find out why it isn't publishing properly when I tell it to. I also have a question about the photographs section - how I can get the photos to enlarge to full size when they are clicked. I'm almost done with that task, but almost just isn't enough *sigh*. 

If it's not one thing, it's another - LOL. My life 
never seems to be very boring. I could probably 
use a little boredom in it every now and again. 

I'm also tumbling my holiday cards through my head. This year's time has completely evaporated, and I may have to cut corners which isn't going to make me super happy, but will still be pretty and fun. I have to make some difficult decisions, however, and I have to do it now. I'm quickly running out of time if I don't. 

I need to get my ducks in a row. I'm running short on 
time and I have a lot to do. It's a year of broken and 
changed dreams, and personal projects are just one 
more brick in the wall that I'm making for 2023. 

So today will be a busy day. I need to cook, I need to clean, I need to find things that have gone missing in my craft room, and I need to get my ducks in a row. Meanwhile, I want to harvest peppers, start another cycle of dehydration for them, and grind up some that I've already dried so they can be stored and used. I certainly will NOT be sitting around today - LOL. I hope all of you have a wonderful day, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Holiday Thoughts as Christmas is Approaching at Breakneck Speed

Sharon's holiday gift is on its way to her. I'll text her details later today including the tracking number, but it appears that it will arrive on Monday. Now, if it doesn't get stolen by porch thieves, she'll have her holiday gift in plenty of time to put under her tree. Fabulous! 

I like sending my mail via USPS Priority Mail. I get 
regular updates, I get delivery confirmation (very important 
when shipping things from a business) and although it 
costs $, it's still less expensive in most cases than UPS 
or Federal Express. 

I have one other package ready to ship, and one more gift I still have to make. The clock is ticking, but these are local so I have a little bit of breathing room. Somewhat. The problem is, of course, that I'm working six days a week now until the Holiday, so "free" time simply isn't. Also, I have an eye doctor appointment on Wednesday afternoon, so that crashes most of Wednesday into "unavailable" time. I'll be lucky to be back home in time to make dinner, and driving will suck since I'll have drops in my eyes. 

Minnesota Eye Consultants is my long-time eye care 
center. I've been seeing them since the early 2000's 
and they're excellent. It's a bit of a drive, but I really 
trust the doctors they have, so I'll make the drive over. 
At least the roads haven't been horrible yet. You never 
know what December will throw at you in Minnesota. 

Check-in instructions at the eye clinic are quite different this time. Last time I was in was just before COVID had really hit. We were starting to wear masks and practice social distancing, but the shut downs and massive death counts hadn't happened yet. Now, I get to interact via text messaging and stay in my car until they inform me that a room is ready. I'd better make sure I have ample gas in the car since I'll be running the engine while I wait. It's a bit too cold out to not have some heat going. 

Adventures in the suburbs aren't quite as exciting as 
climbing a mountain or exploring a jungle. But I'm 
getting a bit too old for that stuff anyway, so I'll 
leave that up to the younger generations. 

Oh well, adventures ... that's life. My adventures aren't nearly as frightening or life-threatening as those of other people, so I'm grateful. Now if I could just navigate the horrible website of "Honey Baked Ham" to get my Holiday ham ordered and ready for pickup on the 20th. 

I adore my once-a-year treat of a Honey Baked Ham. My 
mother started us on that tradition with a gift certificate 
decades ago, and it's an annual yummy purchase ever 
since. It's expensive, but it lasts us and we always 
give Chickie a generous portion because she loves it too. 

May your problems be equally minimal. Have an excellent weekend, be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back on Monday. 

A Million Things To Do and One Day To Do Them

It's my "day off" and I have "PLANS". While the laundry is going, I plan to forge ahead with my holiday cards. Of course, I have other things also calling my name, but I'm going to try my best to sandwich in an hour of work on my holiday cards. I want to continue putting the final images into place so that I can break out the inks and start applying the colors. I adore that final stage. 

This time of the year is always hectic and packed
with a million things on my to-do list. It's a crumbling
precipice that I know well, but it's always uncomfortable
until I look back at it in hindsight. 

I still have a thousand other things perching at the cliff's edge along with me. That's indicative of my mind this close to Thanksgiving - a crumbling cliff edge with a long drop. I need to work on the mailing for our after-Thanksgiving sales, I need to determine final holiday days and hours. I need to clean off the top of my red rolling drawers because it desperately needs it. I need to do a final cleaning on my 24" inch sterling neck chains. And I need to do the usual things that Wednesdays entail - grocery shopping and basic errands. 

I'm trying to stay away from the excuses because those
thousand things can quickly multiply if they are fed by
the fertilizer of excuses and "later". 

My desk is a disaster and needs a serious clean and straighten. The laundry is calling my name and I'll be busy with that all day. I have little bits of this and that to find realistic real homes for, and I need to sew two buttons back onto a sweater so I can get rid of it on my "to do" pile and return it to the shop. Of course, I've been trying to find a free 10 minutes to sew those two buttons on for the past three weeks. "Le Sigh!" I'm grateful that I don't have a Physical Therapy appointment scheduled until mid-December because I can's squeeze one more thing into today's schedule. 

Yippee! Even if I have a million things to do, it's
still a day off and I treasure those! 

So, basic same-old, same-old in my household. Still, a day off is always to be treasured. Chickie and I worked really hard yesterday at getting the stone and glass shipment checked in, packed, tagged and out onto the shelves. Today DH will finalize check-in of earrings and pendants that we received late last week. Once that's finalized and tags are run, Chickie can get them tagged and labelled and put out for sale. We're going to be in excellent shape for the holidays. Now all we need are people who want to buy wonderful stuff! 

On that note, I'm going to wrap this up and start the next step of my day. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Making Time Flexible

It's one of those days. It's a day when I got up thinking I have plenty of time to get everything done before leaving for the day, and realized that I was wrong - so very wrong! It's OK, it's my day off and time has flexibility, but still ... I was so very wrong. 

We all have to adapt to changing circumstances
throughout our days. We're riding on flexible
time. 

I got pulled into the whirlpool of emails, book reviews and on-line articles, along with a large online order for the store and basic stuff like starting my first load of laundry for the day. I got caught up in planning what I can realistically expect to accomplish on my "day off", what I should wear given that we're getting colder and it's raining/snowing outside, and wondering if rain/snow is "rnow" or "snain". Yes, my mind can travel some very strange and circuitous pathways. 

We walk the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else, but
some people can accomplish so much, while others of us
whirl around. It's hard to stop that whirlpool of flexible
time and stop the gears to look at the greater picture. 

The only thing I know for a fact is that I want to get the next stage of my holiday cards completed at the shop early today, then leave so that I can bring them home for a quick paint job. I also need to take a serious look at my adhesive options - both tapes and glues. AND ... I need to grab the mini-envelopes for the ornaments and get those over to the shop, but that can happen tomorrow morning. 

One step at a time. I'll get to the finish line, but I have to think
ahead too. I can't wallow in any single moment or I'll lose
the momentum that will lead to success. 

Today I'm concentrating on what must be done, revising my mental schedule according to decisions made about adhesives, and focusing on what I plan to get finished for Thursday through Saturday. It might not be NaNoWriMo, but it's "Create-A-Card" central right now, and I'm happy, even though I'm confused and fighting clocks yet again. Have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Life Returns To Normal - Not Enough Time

So, my life now returns to normal - a term and description that really means nothing. My dear friend Sharon arrives at the end of August for her five-day visit and right now my house looks like a total disaster. We're trying to incorporate things from the shop to their new places in the house and everything is in a state of flux and change. My den is occupied by box supplies on the western end blocking my sewing cabinets, shelving down the center which will be incorporated into the craft room eventually ... so I'm promised, and stuff on the chairs. Our goal is to have this room as a comfortable den to actually utilize as a media room. I'm not sure I'll ever get there. 

I'm totally in love with this "Sharon's Room" sign. Apparently
I could buy it on Amazon. I won't, but I love the concept. 

Upstairs, "Sharon's Room" (yes, that's actually what we call it) looks like a bomb went off in a paper factory. There are pages strewn throughout the room, boxes of books I need to take to Half-Price Books, and stacks of things to either shred or add to the wall of boxes we have at the shop pending the hiring of a professional shredding service. We only want the professionals to have to come out once because it's not inexpensive, but we have business financial records that must be shredded and have added some personal stuff to it as well. Why not? The company is just going to toss the paper into the gaping maw of the shredded and make short work of what would take weeks for us to do in our smaller machines. 

We will be hiring a mobile document shredding company
similar to this one to shred our wall of documents. It'll be
several hundred dollars, but it will take care of a major
issue. We will still collect for this until Spring. 

Between the den and Sharon's Room is the main portion of the house, and that's actually not bad - a bit messy and in need of a serious vacuum, but not too bad. I need to do a serious dusting and the vacuum MUST be used because we've been tracking stuff all over from our various errands and projects. The problem area in this part of the house (aside from the dining room where we have kept the doors closed because we don't want to deal right now) is the breezeway. I need to start work on that room on Wednesday. The carpet must be vacuumed and then steam cleaned, and the walls need to be washed. I wanted them painted, but that's not going to happen. DH wants to get the soldering table moved from the shop into the breezeway within the next week, and painting time isn't - no paint and especially no time. 

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival opens in mid-August and we'll have
to try and fit that into our Sunday schedules. It's not going to be easy
this year - we have a lot that must be done before the cold really
hits in October/November. 

In the meanwhile, life goes on. We pack, we grumble, we cook, eat and live. We watch TV, we read (well, to be more precise, I read), and generally we try to live life. It's unfortunate that we can't warp time to insert at least another 30 days for us. But it doesn't work that way. Guess it's time to move faster because the calendar isn't changing and we're totally running out of time and summer. 

The Minnesota State Fair opens on the 22nd of August. Sharon
and I always hang at the Fair for several days when she
comes to visit. It's so much fun, so much to see, and plenty
to do, as well as lots of opportunity to just sit, watch the people,
and catch up on what happened over the past year. 

Have an excellent Tuesday. I'm going to try to finish clearing off the soldering table today so that DH can take a serious look at it tomorrow. He thinks he can disassemble it. I think he's living a dream - a pipe dream in this instance. I guess we'll know more in 48 hours or so. I'll be back tomorrow, so be good, be kind, and spread joy. 

Time and Attitude - How Well Do You Wait?

I'm not sure why I feel rushed today. There's really no reason. I'm actually a little (very little) bit early sitting down to write my blog this morning, but I feel as if there's a breath at the back of my neck telling me to hurry up, no time, must rush through. 

Life is a limited time special, so it seems as if we
should always hurry up. Sometimes living in the
fast lane means we don't take time for ourselves,
and that's something I would regret. So I try to
not hurry up too much. 

When those voices speak - the "hurry up" the "not enough time" and the "push it through no matter what" voices - they can lead to sloppy work, poor decisions, and major errors. These are the times when I take an etching out of the bath early and ruin the previous two hours of work. These are the times when I push a bit harder against the saw blade and end up with a chip that takes an extra amount of time to sand out (or makes the piece unusable for the planned purpose), and these are the times when I can let my temper and impatience take the better of me in heavy traffic - never a good idea when behind the wheel of any vehicle. 

Time is rarely actually on our side, but we can make it work
for us. We can multi-task, and we can take advantage of those
off-times to think things through in more detail. 

Impatience isn't always bad. Drumming my fingers while waiting for water to boil is also conducive to viewing the next twist in my latest chapter take place in my head. It can allow me to duplicate the rhythm from the latest song, or it can allow me to think of the colors I want to grab for my next project. Impatience can force me out of bed in the morning, and it's the clock ticking to remind me (sometimes somewhat firmly) that I don't have a clue about what I'm making for my solstice cards this year. (OOPS! Have to get going on that one.) 

It's funny how the locations we wait it make a
difference. Waiting next to a babbling brook is
much more pleasant than waiting in a waiting
room for a dental appointment. 

All of my life I've practiced patience, waiting casually (usually with a book in my hand because reading is essential to my life and off-time is the perfect time to read another page or thirty). I wait in offices for my appointment. I wait at stoplights (no book in hand for those times, though). I wait in lines for the movie or in the theater for the show to start. 

It's always now - not the past and not the future. Try
to make it the BEST now you possibly can for
yourself and the people who are around you. 

But there are the times when I take time into my own hands, and my own schedule rules. Between the time I awaken (ideally at 3:15 am, but sometimes earlier) and the time I leave for the gym (no later than 4:45 am), I force my brain to wake up. Between reading and answering emails and writing this daily blog, (whatever comes out of my subconscious for the day), I'm getting my thoughts in order. I'm telling my inner voices to work constructively. All things considered, they obey pretty well - LOL. Have a totally fabulous day and I'll return tomorrow for a VERY busy day. *sigh* 

Windows of Opportunity

I'm stumped today. It's cold, I'm tired, and I'm not really in a mood to talk - nothing really to share. It's a boring time of the year. January is usually the time to start anew - make resolutions, try new things, set new routines. I can't disagree with that, but my "new routines" have more to do with the fact that I'm not allowed to swim for another 1-1/2 weeks than more standard resolutions. I really didn't make any resolutions this year, I just want to get through the year intact, happy, and having accomplished something by the end. That's harder than it sounds. 

Among the most common New Year Resolutions are
those listed here. If anyone were to try all of these at
the same time, they would have a good chance of failure.
That's a LOT to strive for. Choose a single goal and
stick to it. Often others will follow along automatically. 

Chickie finally had a night to pack last night. Her mother accidentally packed the drill, so it's over at the new house instead of at the apartment where it's actually needed. Oops! Still, she finally (maybe) managed to get it through her Mom's head - she HAS to pack. The movers are scheduled to get her stuff moved out of the apartment and into the new place on Saturday, the 19th, and that gives her SEVEN DAYS to get her crap packed to move. 

Windows of opportunity don't stay open forever. Chickie's
window of opportunity for packing and getting moved into
the new house is closing firmly in eight days! 

Why has she ended up with such a short window of time to get this done? Because the past month was spent helping her Mom get the last of her stuff packed, the house cleaned, supervising the movers getting her Mom's stuff from the storage shed and other things - in other words - all of her Mom's stuff. I adore Chickie's Mom, consider her a good friend, but it's time for her to do her own thing for a couple of weeks. The clock is ticking and Chickie's window of opportunity is closing quickly. 

Isn't this a great window of opportunity? It makes you
want to climb out and explore the place beyond
the frame, doesn't it? 

Fortunately, after Chickie's stuff is all moved to the new digs, she'll still have the lease on the apartment until the end of January, so she'll have time to patch, paint and clean before she vacates completely. I feel a bit sorry for her housemate, Sabrina. It's a large Queen Anne-style house - three stories tall, and Sabrina will be the only tenant in that big house once Chickie moves away. That's a lot of empty space and she doesn't even have a dog to keep her company any more. I suspect she'll also look into moving, but who knows for sure. 

I'm really loving this open window view too. Just
look at the perfect positioning in the
top round window. Beautiful. Unfortunately,
I have no idea where this is located. There
wasn't a location given in the original photo
caption. 

So - I ended up with things to talk about after all! It's amazing what the mind can come up with when I let it roam a bit. Are you a person who moves a lot? I know most of my friends have pretty deep roots in their homes and towns. I absolutely dread the thought of ever moving out of my house - too much crap to pack and move, and nightmare wouldn't begin to describe it! Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Enjoy a productive and joy-filled day!