Plan? What plan?

I have been making a little list every day of what I want to accomplish. Yesterday I don't believe I accomplished even one thing.  I did things.  For sure I have not been sitting and daydreaming all day. But the plan for each day seems to be getting thrown out of the window...worse every day!

First off were these LARGE crafting instruments. How fast would I be with these!

This was funny to me. The chip didn't want to leave the dip!

Nooooo!!!!! Ha ha!

I've wanted one of these pretty boxes for awhile and it was 40% off!

To organize my cards. Christmas, get well, blank, thank you and even one Valentine's Day card all have a home and aren't in four different boxes all over the house. 

Blueman's bulk mail project. He did labels 

And I did the folding of the letters while watching captain marvel. Or America. 

Or some other name that was far fetched and had one of  my favorite actors as the bad guy.

Bummer!

Here's hoping your heroes all remain heroic!

Here there and everywhere

yesterday got flipped. I intended to do many different things than actually happened. Firstly was the eye doctor which was set, no changes. Blueman ran an errand after dropping me off and I didn't have to get dilated after all!  I had been worrying about this for some time. Luckily no major issues were found.

Lunch at the local Irish pub.  Irish nachos!

Pub burger and potato salad for Blueman

Then over to the local quilt store (conveniently located next door to the pub) for some goodies! 

I paid half price for these goodies due to a gift card.

I love me a good deal!

Speaking of gift cards, look what arrived three days AFTER our Home Depot run?!

Oh well, I'll get a need for something, I'm sure!

Here's hoping you get an unexpected discount today!

I'm not working so who knows what day it is....

Weekend, holiday, vacation...who knows what day it is. Not sure what's done, not done, in process... Ha!

This was started. Two out of thirteen Windows. It will be a haul but I hope to get them done by the end of the weekend.

I am almost done with the green squares. It was an out day as we ran errands. Yesterday was an "in" day as I puttered from task to task. So far I've read three books while off work. A nap has happened almost every day. So at the halfway point, I'm still in the dreamy 'vacation is great' stage.

Four more days to convert my to-do's to to-done's! 

Here's hoping you mark a few things off your own list.

Vacation day 3

I am still quite enjoying my time off. I'm developing a little routine that I like and it will be hard to go back to working life at the end of this week.

Yesterday was the daily laundry and other common chores. I also finished another episode of Elementary.  It's more than just a chore now, I'm getting into it.  I also made my second trip to the gym. More things were achy but I'm hopeful that it's working itself out today and tomorrow.

The master closet is finished with the culling and sorting. I filled my last two boxes, so will have to secure more because I'm not done with my version of organizing. The bedroom is done though. Up next? The bookcase.

Closet donations

I did manage to "fix" my yellow squares, so February's color is done.

Yellow is done!

 I cut the green strips for designs that ran through my head last night. With luck more sewing will be happening today

Green options. Bottom right is Christmas fabric but who cares?!

And lastly, a little retail action happened.

Life isn't all work, sometimes you need a little pretty in your cart!

Hoping you find a pretty bargain, too!

Vacation day 2

So, on the way to a surprise breakfast with Blueman, I was surprised to note we had a visitor along for the ride at least to the mailboxes! He slid up the hood and hid most of the way. 

Fair winds little grasshopper!

After breakfast we went to purchase this. Or should I say these? 

A houseful of vertical blinds.

The friendliest and most helpful young men took my list, cut the blinds and labeled EVERY piece so the installation should be much easier!

I even got to fit in a little of this, too. 

It's not much but it's a start.

Here's to fresh starts!

Vacation day 1

Wooooot! Vacation is finally here.  I have lists and ideas and plans and dreams.  I have some small purchases to make.  I have some errands to run. There are fun things we intend to do also.

One of my favorite shows has been languishing in my dvr. I thought it was the last season. Imagine my surprise when I saw a new one added to the dvr.  So.  With my current 'must finish' disorder, I started watching again. I doubt I'll get all watched in these nine days, but perhaps a dent could be made. I do enjoy me some Jonny Lee Miller.

The key to this vacation is focus when necessary and relaxation otherwise! Naps? I hope so.  Craft finishes? Better be!  I'm stoked.

Blueman started dinner the other night so when I took over, I had to turn the meat into something a little more...me.  What better than a ham flower?!

Here's hoping you find flowery loveliness in the most unlikely of places.

Cd8 where are you? I'm CD9

I certainly don't need anything else to feel guilty about.   So I missed a post yesterday, so what? Went in to work an hour early and stayed an hour late. Didn't even think about the blog. Especially after being critiqued several times. Great.

My Midwest bestie is on vacation and I confess this waiting four more workdays for mine to begin is truly making me chafe. I'm ready. Even with my long list of to-do things, I'm ready.  I'm so out of it that I accidentally blew off a team meeting at work. Ay yi yi.

So...if I were my cats who had little to worry about...

I might just chill on a dish cloth my brother had filched from the "to be put away" pile

Or perhaps a larger dish towel that got dropped on the way to the laundry.

May you find cool spots to spend some chill time today!

CD7 - groundwork for more staycation plans

I've been making steady progress towards some of my spring cleaning/staycation plans.
Since the first of the year, I have wanted to measure my windows for blinds. And yet, I always find ways to avoid doing it. So a gal at work was rushing to finish knitting a scarf and we challenged each other. She hand delivered her scarf about a half an hour before I finished measuring my windows.

Challenges apparently seem to work for me...sometimes.  I wonder why it doesn't when it counts? Perhaps that's a question for therapy?

Windows measured.  Check!

So we'll get these ordered and possibly installed in the next ten days to two weeks.

Here's hoping you have succeeded in your challenges!

CD6 or love is meatball on your pizza

It seems wicked early as I write this but I believe it's just because I'm still in a sleep deficit from Thursday and Friday nights. My edema is still out of control but I will persevere. My mental fist is raised in the air here.

So the weekend in numbers goes like this:
6 hours of missing sleep
5 minutes of pain when leg cramp hit at 1:30 am
4 loads of laundry
3 skeins of red white and green yarn
2 bags of trash
1 dishwasher unloaded and reloaded

Also had a frustrating experience. Parked and walked into a restaurant whose front door was propped wide open.  We were asked if we had a reservation (and it was not a fancy place) so I was puzzled and flippantly stated we did not and asked if we needed one. The girl then called a equally young teen aged looking boy over who told me they weren't open to the public yet.  Wouldn't you put up at least one sign, visual aid or something that stated that?  How embarrassing.  Oh well, we went down the street to an old favorite.

Love is a heart shaped meatball on your pizza. 

AND it was on special too!

May you find heart shaped items wherever you look today!

Challenge day 5.5

yesterdays post is a little late.
An unexpected jaunt to the ER on the suggestion of a phone call which netted us nothing except a confirmation that a previous diagnosis was invalid.
This would not have been so terrible except I had not slept well the night before. So I was TIRED.
I figure it will take the weekend to recover.

However, plans for vacation staycation must go on.
I know I need some colors to finish my rainbow challenge squares.
So I went shopping.  At goodwill. It was a good getaway from work.

Tucked into the top is orange, middle show turquoise/Aqua,and what you can barely see is a roll of Boucle yarn that will finish a purple and black project which is on this year's list.

I forgot how you can sometimes hit the jackpot at thrift stores.

This was the go-bag project I pulled last night. It, too is on the complete in 2019 list though I hadn't intended to unveil it so quickly. I'm three skeins into a ten skein possibility. Maybe it's only eight.

Anywho, I started it on the plane last October so I'm using a plastic hook. Takes a slightly different grip and it has no forgiveness like my metal ones.

Hoping you find kinds of forgiveness today!

Challenge day four

I'm beginning to start looking around again for hidden beauty. Things along the road while waiting at a red light, pretties just outside the window and even funny behaviors of my furry kids.
I needed the push to get out of my head and back into seeing the colorful views around me.

The beginning of a week comes with a clean desk, the deluded thinking that it will always stay that way and ideas of how the week will progress.  Thoughts of vacation, ahem, stay-cation are right on the edge of my consciousness, encouraging me to just let go and let God.  I can't change my work world but I can change me and this week I've been trying to remind myself of that.

Pretty flowers at the drive thru

Different view but still pretty.

Shrill noisemaker. 

All the way to the top, can you see him?

He was greeting folks and wishing them a good day.

Or maybe just wishing for some food.

Who knows?

Wishing you some happy noises today.

Challenge day three

The spring cleaning bug hit early.  I had planned a lot of tasks for my stay-cation week, but over the weekend, the master closet began to call my name.  I have two boxes in the garage just waiting for donations. I haven't had to pull them in yet.  I managed to go through half the closet and this is what I have so far.

Two bins of clothes, one of which that was packed over three years ago and never opened. 

Pretty simple clue that they weren't needed.

Small box to the left for smaller things. 

Came in useful when I started clearing through my nightstand

This was my funny moment for the day. 

Upon entering my car at the end of the day, I removed the sun shield and saw...

The alligator.  

Turns out it was tire tread.

Looked like Alligator to me! 

Hoping you find unexpected funny things today!

Challenge day 2

Today was a pretty good day.
I managed to get some difficult things done at work, including a difficult conversation.
I lost some of yesterday's zen, but didn't do too badly.
I was early instead of skidding in right on time which helps the stress level.
Tonight will be a test to see what gets accomplished. So far a bit of kitchen work.

Pictures are from yesterday's jaunt to the dreaded four dollar a cup drink place.

The line was not long (so no waiting) but I still managed to get a picture of pretty flowers

My latest fascination.

I'm likely the only person in America who didn't realize grande (Spanish for big) means smallest possible size you'll ever get for four dollars.

Quite yummy though. 

Someone brought a mistake in as a freebie and I liked the flavor.

Best mistake ever! 

Hoping happy mistakes for you!

Challenge extended

its been awhile since I posted daily. I'm curious if I have enough to say every day!  Truthfully, life has been extra stressful for awhile. Decisions needed to be made and some are but thinking so hard must take away my words! I haven't posted regularly in awhile and that means my creativity is stunted. I've seen interesting and beautiful things but haven't made the effort to share.

So I'm challenging myself to get out of my head and look for the fun, whimsical, silly and maybe even confusing things that are my stock in trade.

Fair warning. That may mean beautiful....nay delicious pics of food...

Or even extraneous furry family member pics even when they are less than enthused.

It's Monday.

A new beginning.

Day 1 challenge extended and accepted.

Happy beginning of....whatever follows!

Cinco de mayo recap including my May finish

It was totally unplanned when we stopped in at chili's for lunch that I'd order something suitable for a "cinco de mayo meal."

Oh yeah, and I finished the "1-4-3, I love you" shawl.

Chicken bacon ranch quesadillas for the entree

After chips and salsa (required appetizer)

The prayer shawl is finished! 

At the top there is one stripe of each color. That is the "I"

Then four stripes of each color. That is the "love" part

Finally, three strips = "you"

Notice the number of letters match the number of stripes.

The turquoise border are X's with a space or O in between.

So an I love you shawl with a hug and kiss surrounding.

Surely someone will feel that love!

Hoping you have a hug filled day!

P.s. Between preparing this and posted, a friend of mine requested this shawl for a cousin with cancer.
He's a diver and with the water colors, it seems a perfect fit!  Ah, the mysterious ways He works!

extraneous nature pics

I thought I might take a quick minute to chill after a disappointing neurological appointment. The view ahead of me was landscaping. I felt my frustration ease as I looked at it through the lense of my camera on my phone.

The leaning tower of cactus!

Mama and baby trees!

Final cactus shot.

I do enjoy nature shots. I like to see the angles of branches, shades of colors and I marvel at the resilience of living things in the middle of urban areas.

Take a look around. What's beautiful right in front of your eyes?

Finishing

I've developed a...disorder?  An illness?  A new habit?

It's called finishing.  I've made a list of yarn projects that I want to finish. (Apparently thinking of this list too much because I dreamt of two projects that may not be on the list as well as a couple more I want to work on.)

I have made progress, finishing one project per month since December.  I thought it would end there.

But no.

Last week I decided I really needed to progress on a book I was reading. I won't let myself read any new books til I finish this one.  I am still ahead on my 50 book goal for the year, so that's good.

Today, I took this finishing fetish a step further. I watched a movie I had saved on the dvr.  My dinner with Herve. It was very good. I had saved it back in November of 2018. 

I may be hooked on finishing. Vacation is coming soon. I have a list of things to finish then, too. Can't wait.

Below you will find a couple of delicious finishes from the week!

Garlic cheese bread

Baked spaghetti calzone with pasta cream sauce.

Whatever you're working on, I hope for you a fun, 

delicious and/or rewarding finish.