Halloween and Christmas decorations co-mingled in store aisles? Check!
Christmas carols clogging up the airwaves -- before Thanksgiving? Check!
Black Friday gossip floating around the workplace -- before Halloween? Check!
Nary a gift idea thought up nor handmade goods started? Double check!
Panic that I can't possibly get it all completed and still pay my bills? You betcha!
'Tis
the season for panic, resentment and grinch-like behavior. I'm
determined, this year, to get with the holiday spirit; to throw myself
head first into the joy of finding just the right gift for just the right person. I love nailing the perfect gift!
What I don't like is the pressure. I don't like the consumerism that's become par for the course during the holidays. I hate that the Trolls' Christmas lists look like the inventory order form for Toys 'R' Us. Ironically enough, I hate that The Boyfriend™'s wish list is decidedly sparse -- mostly because he's impossible to shop for.
But this year, more than anything, I am steadfastly determined to do it much differently than last year! We'll be decorated and festooned. We'll have a big ole real tree, too! We'll put up Christmas lights outside and rack up the light bill! This is The Boyfriend™'s first Christmas with Trolls, so... we need to show him how it's done. I actually can't wait to get out the lights and the decorations and rig up the house until it looks like the north pole's sister location. I can't wait to intermingle our old Christmas traditions with the new ones that include The Boyfriend™. This Christmas will be very good!
Right now, though, I should be in the study and turning all of my down time hours into a veritable one-person sweatshop of Christmas making. Right now, I'm procrastinating by rambling here about how much I'm panicking about Christmas. Oh, the sweet irony.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Full Moon
Bright blessings to you, too, my fellow travellers.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Fall Behind...And Other Double Entrendes
My, oh my has it been a while since I graced the interwebs with my blogging presence. It's been crazy, here in the Land of S. So much going on, most of it having nothing at all to do with my plans, ambitions, life lists or The Two Year Plan.
My day job moved into its new corporate headquarters. Because I hold a position of some importance (read: I'm salaried. In other words, free labor), thems of us with a rather important title were put to work for most of the weekends in October.
As ill humored and ungrateful as I sound, I'm actually quite pleased with the move. The new location shaves 20 minutes off of my commute home each day which, when you add it all together, gives me back a WHOLE DAY in three months. That may not seem like a lot to most people, but 20 minutes a day means the difference between my feeling harried and harassed when I get home, and my being able to relax and be a sane human being for the remainder of our waking hours at the homestead.
So, I've been plumb worn out with not a whole lot to give toward artistic (and other) endeavors. I DID manage to find enough stamina to make The Boyfriend™'s life rather hellish for a few days. But that's why he loves me -- for the particular brand of craziness I bring to the relationship.
Yesterday was the end of daylight savings time and a return to the normal cycle of light and dark. In theory, I understand the necessity of daylight savings time, but I equate it to communism: great on paper; horrible in practice. But with the return of the regular cycle, my body has found its rhythm again. How I love these shorter days and the call to hurry up and get ready to hunker down for the really short days. My DNA reaches back through time to a place where people busied themselves with canning and preparing and readying for long, cold winters. Since I'm a New England girl, that hard coding in the DNA, despite modern conveniences, is still a very important survival instinct. Prepare. Get ready. Don't waste the daylight, for there won't be much soon.
...I spent the goodly portion of yesterday in the kitchen, hacking up veggies for soups, chicken for stock and my poor middle finger. This particular finger has taken quite the beating lately.
...I wish I hadn't let my second attempt at a kitchen garden go to pot. Though, now that the weather's cooling off considerably, perhaps I should make another go at growing potatoes. Potatoes, as it turns out, are finicky beasts, who prefer colder climes and steadfastly refuse to grow in tropical locales, such as Florida.
And lest I go one blog post following a singular train of thought, off to other topics...
The Two Year Plan, while still in effect, has been delayed. Mostly because The Boyfriend™ suck at follow through. Yet another reason we're perfect for each other -- neither of us minds when the other one gets distracted by something shiny; likely because the other was already distracted by some other, different shiny thing. So, it's go time effective January 1st. So, it's only a four month delay, but, I think, a necessary one. Had to get the crap behavior out of our collective system.
The Boyfriend™ also got it into his craw that web pages of the real sort be procured, FEINs applied for and gotten, and businesses of all varieties fermenting and readying themselves for take off. It kept him distract for a week or two. But I am now the proud owner of "Sam and Sady -- Enterprising Enterprises", which I will be combining with the as-yet-developed Etsy store -- and my web page (which I need to go develop some). With Christmas just around the corner (EEK!), it's prime craft making time. Between the developing of the Etsy store and this blog post, I've given the shop some thought. While I want to include a bunch of handmade goods, I also want a place where my less graff-leaning, naked lady art can be viewed and displayed.
Speaking of graff -- The Boyfriend™ in all of his loveliness got me an airbrush! The heretofore partially closed door of stencil art has been reopened with his gesture! He thinks I'm not thrilled. He is sadly mistaken.
And speaking of all of that, I must away myself to the land of art and airbrushes. I promised myself I'd get this stencil cut out and do some airbrush work tonight. While the longer hours make this night owl exceedingly happy, I do have a day job and Trolls to get to school way too early in the morning.
I promise: more posts very soon -- including the long promised Fearlessly Phobic Corn Chowder.
In the mean time, I wish you all the very best of everything your heart desires!
Namaste
My day job moved into its new corporate headquarters. Because I hold a position of some importance (read: I'm salaried. In other words, free labor), thems of us with a rather important title were put to work for most of the weekends in October.
As ill humored and ungrateful as I sound, I'm actually quite pleased with the move. The new location shaves 20 minutes off of my commute home each day which, when you add it all together, gives me back a WHOLE DAY in three months. That may not seem like a lot to most people, but 20 minutes a day means the difference between my feeling harried and harassed when I get home, and my being able to relax and be a sane human being for the remainder of our waking hours at the homestead.
So, I've been plumb worn out with not a whole lot to give toward artistic (and other) endeavors. I DID manage to find enough stamina to make The Boyfriend™'s life rather hellish for a few days. But that's why he loves me -- for the particular brand of craziness I bring to the relationship.
Yesterday was the end of daylight savings time and a return to the normal cycle of light and dark. In theory, I understand the necessity of daylight savings time, but I equate it to communism: great on paper; horrible in practice. But with the return of the regular cycle, my body has found its rhythm again. How I love these shorter days and the call to hurry up and get ready to hunker down for the really short days. My DNA reaches back through time to a place where people busied themselves with canning and preparing and readying for long, cold winters. Since I'm a New England girl, that hard coding in the DNA, despite modern conveniences, is still a very important survival instinct. Prepare. Get ready. Don't waste the daylight, for there won't be much soon.
...I spent the goodly portion of yesterday in the kitchen, hacking up veggies for soups, chicken for stock and my poor middle finger. This particular finger has taken quite the beating lately.
...I wish I hadn't let my second attempt at a kitchen garden go to pot. Though, now that the weather's cooling off considerably, perhaps I should make another go at growing potatoes. Potatoes, as it turns out, are finicky beasts, who prefer colder climes and steadfastly refuse to grow in tropical locales, such as Florida.
And lest I go one blog post following a singular train of thought, off to other topics...
The Two Year Plan, while still in effect, has been delayed. Mostly because The Boyfriend™ suck at follow through. Yet another reason we're perfect for each other -- neither of us minds when the other one gets distracted by something shiny; likely because the other was already distracted by some other, different shiny thing. So, it's go time effective January 1st. So, it's only a four month delay, but, I think, a necessary one. Had to get the crap behavior out of our collective system.
The Boyfriend™ also got it into his craw that web pages of the real sort be procured, FEINs applied for and gotten, and businesses of all varieties fermenting and readying themselves for take off. It kept him distract for a week or two. But I am now the proud owner of "Sam and Sady -- Enterprising Enterprises", which I will be combining with the as-yet-developed Etsy store -- and my web page (which I need to go develop some). With Christmas just around the corner (EEK!), it's prime craft making time. Between the developing of the Etsy store and this blog post, I've given the shop some thought. While I want to include a bunch of handmade goods, I also want a place where my less graff-leaning, naked lady art can be viewed and displayed.
Speaking of graff -- The Boyfriend™ in all of his loveliness got me an airbrush! The heretofore partially closed door of stencil art has been reopened with his gesture! He thinks I'm not thrilled. He is sadly mistaken.
And speaking of all of that, I must away myself to the land of art and airbrushes. I promised myself I'd get this stencil cut out and do some airbrush work tonight. While the longer hours make this night owl exceedingly happy, I do have a day job and Trolls to get to school way too early in the morning.
I promise: more posts very soon -- including the long promised Fearlessly Phobic Corn Chowder.
In the mean time, I wish you all the very best of everything your heart desires!
Namaste
Saturday, October 22, 2011
So hey! Guess what?!
I have internet at home again. It's been months and months, but... I can now blog from something other than my iPad (which I still love, and will use like it's my full time job, but the ease from blogging from an actual Internet connection, with an Honest-to-God computer that can load multiple pictures at one time... priceless!)
Right now, we're watching a math DVD, because The Boyfriend™ insists that we will teach The Trolls math DESPITE Florida's lack-of-logic-in-teaching-math and I'm syncing my iPhone and... did I mention that we have internet at the house (but no longer have free cable. Gee whiz, I'm so sad about that... NOT!)??
Also, have I told you, lately, how much I love the fair? I wanna be a carney when I grow up!
Right now, we're watching a math DVD, because The Boyfriend™ insists that we will teach The Trolls math DESPITE Florida's lack-of-logic-in-teaching-math and I'm syncing my iPhone and... did I mention that we have internet at the house (but no longer have free cable. Gee whiz, I'm so sad about that... NOT!)??
Also, have I told you, lately, how much I love the fair? I wanna be a carney when I grow up!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
So this is what happens when I try to be productive...
He needs a sinisterly safe name. One that children could combine with "Old Man..." but also denotes a servent's position in an austere Victorian home.
(if you look closely, you can see my awful handwriting on the opposite page. LOL!)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Soup for YOU!
Except when it comes to soups. That is one arena that I am absolutely proficient in. Dare I say that I excel at soup? Yes. Yes, I do.
The weather in Florida has given us a tiny window of cool weather respite, and it actually feels like fall. Fall, in my opinion, is perfect soup weather. Tonight, We're having corn chowder (a recipe I've adapted enough from the original that I feel comfortable enough to post as a fearlessly phobic cooking entry), but I couldn't resist making a pot of creamy tomato soup. This batch will be going in the freezer for later, so we have a ready meal when our window of cool weather lasts longer than a weekend.
Mmmm... Soup!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Full Moon, Front Porch and Musing
The Fair just passed in my neck of the woods, in Massachusetts. I miss it. I miss the roundhouse full of kitschy folk art, pies, and the largest produce a man can grow. I miss the livestock pens. I miss the rides and fair fries. I miss the annual parade that announces the fair's beginning - and the unofficial beginning of Fall.
I miss FALL. I miss the chilly nights, the foggy mornings, the three layers of clothing required (so you can peel it off as the day progresses). I miss the going in that happens as a natural response to the changing season - readying yourself for the upcoming winter. I miss the smell of leaves and chimney smoke. I miss the changing colors of the mountains. I miss a REAL Halloween.
If it wasn't obvious, I miss home. The urgency to get back there had sort of waned the last couple of months. Once The Trolls came back from their visit, I got wrapped up in trying to reacclimatize to their rhythm, while trying to maintain focus on The Two Year plan, and fell behind a bit. I got a little lost in the what's happening now and less focused on the where I want to go.
But more and more, I feel the pull back home. The NEED to be with My People is strong. The need for my children to be raised in a nurturing, like-minded community is imperative. I need to feel like a part of a community again- even if it drives me nuts that everyone knows everything all the time. You can't wipe your ass without your phone ringing so your neighbor can ask you what you had for dinner. I ran to Florida, among other reasons, to escape from that, but now I would give anything to have it again.
I need to buckle down and focus. It's likely that I over committed myself to too many things, in an effort to get back home quicker. But I think if I simplify and focus on one or two very do-able things, I'll get to where I want to go. Slow and steady wins the race, after all.
To Do by October 13:
1) Get Products up on etsy
2) Fix sewing machines so they work properly so I can have more inventory on hand.
3) Devote Sundays to cooking for the week, so I have more time. :)
4) Start advertising etsy shop.
Speaking of advertising, I'm still toting with the idea of shutting down my Facebook page. It seems unnecessary and chaos creating. But social media is where it's at these days, and a good place to advertise the etsy shop. Decisions, decisions.
In the mean time, I am going to go do some research on a topic that I'm going to keep close to the vest right now. If/when it starts coming to fruition, I'll let you know. Make that item number five on my to do list.
I miss FALL. I miss the chilly nights, the foggy mornings, the three layers of clothing required (so you can peel it off as the day progresses). I miss the going in that happens as a natural response to the changing season - readying yourself for the upcoming winter. I miss the smell of leaves and chimney smoke. I miss the changing colors of the mountains. I miss a REAL Halloween.
If it wasn't obvious, I miss home. The urgency to get back there had sort of waned the last couple of months. Once The Trolls came back from their visit, I got wrapped up in trying to reacclimatize to their rhythm, while trying to maintain focus on The Two Year plan, and fell behind a bit. I got a little lost in the what's happening now and less focused on the where I want to go.
But more and more, I feel the pull back home. The NEED to be with My People is strong. The need for my children to be raised in a nurturing, like-minded community is imperative. I need to feel like a part of a community again- even if it drives me nuts that everyone knows everything all the time. You can't wipe your ass without your phone ringing so your neighbor can ask you what you had for dinner. I ran to Florida, among other reasons, to escape from that, but now I would give anything to have it again.
I need to buckle down and focus. It's likely that I over committed myself to too many things, in an effort to get back home quicker. But I think if I simplify and focus on one or two very do-able things, I'll get to where I want to go. Slow and steady wins the race, after all.
To Do by October 13:
1) Get Products up on etsy
2) Fix sewing machines so they work properly so I can have more inventory on hand.
3) Devote Sundays to cooking for the week, so I have more time. :)
4) Start advertising etsy shop.
Speaking of advertising, I'm still toting with the idea of shutting down my Facebook page. It seems unnecessary and chaos creating. But social media is where it's at these days, and a good place to advertise the etsy shop. Decisions, decisions.
In the mean time, I am going to go do some research on a topic that I'm going to keep close to the vest right now. If/when it starts coming to fruition, I'll let you know. Make that item number five on my to do list.
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