Tangles

November 2

Just so you know what to expect, I have a hard time coming up with clever blog post titles anytime of the year.  Doing it 30 times in one month will be impossible.  I will probably title each post with the date and not much more.

I finished piecing the Quilts for Kids top.  The photo is not good, but it was already dark last night.  The border isn't perfect, but I think it can be improved after quilting and binding are applied.

I need to start a written list of topic ideas for future posts.  Several ideas popped into and out of my memory bank.  Oh well, these things take time.

Hello November

Welcome back to my month of blogging.  I've joined NaBloPoMo again this year.  It's a bit weird, but I enjoy the challenge of doing a daily blog post, but can't post any other time of the year.  Who knows, maybe this is the turning of a new leaf.

I've been keeping busy with reading, knitting, quilting and a few other things.  I'm making a list of topics to post about during the month so I can gradually dole out the updates.

Today, I started the piecing for a quilt that will be donated to Quilts for Kids.  This organization collects throw-sized quilts to be donated to children in need.  You can request a kit of pre-cut fabrics to make a quilt, with the hope being that you will donated one or two more when returning the completed quilt.

Here is a photo of the first half of my quilt.  I probably would have finished the center section tonight, but had to stop to hand out Halloween candy.

Um, Hello?

It's been so long since my last post that Typepad changed lots of bloggy things and I had to do some studying to be able to post.  How sad is that?  I'm doing this post as a list of random things that might have been blogged about if I'd kept things up to date for the past 6 months.

1.  I'm not knitting much at all these days.  Quilting was my first real crafting love and I've picked it up again after a break of about 8 years.
2. Lots of things have changed in the quilting world.  Plenty of new fabrics, designers, books and gadgets.
3. One of these days, I will take pictures of the quilts still in my possession and post them on the blog.
4. I'm going in vacation in less than 2 weeks.  My 2nd oldest nephew is getting married.
5. I'm still taking photos for the 365 Photo project.  I'm way behind in uploading the photos and in creating scrapbook pages, though.
6. We are now a pet-free home.  We lost Oreo last year and Shorty disappeared in January.  We still haven't figured out what happened.  I miss the little goofballs, but am not in any hurry to commit to another pet.
7. Think Blue!

Here's a progress shot of the little throw-sized quilt I started several years ago.  So long ago, that I can't find the stash of green or yellow fabrics to make it full-sized.  Thus, the downsizing had to happen.  I will add some wide borders and call it finished someday.

New Year's Eve

Wow, I can't believe that another year is complete!  The time does fly, doesn't it? 

I am looking forward to a fresh start in the new year.  My annual healthy eating plan has already gone into effect--let's hope I can do a better job this year.  I'm posting and logging in at SparkPeople on a daily basis to try and keep myself motivated.

The Christmas journal project is stalled, by I hope to get back to that in the next few weeks.  I am starting a new Project 365 album--can I make it past April this year?  I hope so.  Links to that will follow once the picture--taking starts tomorrow.

Knitting-wise, my plan is to concentrate more on charity knitting project for the next couple of months.  I've done one scarf to donated to an Indian reservation and need to get going another one soon.  Links to some charity sites will follow in a few days.  My yarn diet also starts tomorrow.  My free-spending habits need to be reigned in and the yarn stash will be the first to suffer.  Luckily, I already have enough yarn to keep me busy for a long, long time.

To close this out, let me wish you a Happy and wonderful New Year!

November 30

Well, we made it to the end of the month.  I posted something every day, but they have to be some of the most boring posts ever done.

Today was a good day--I picked up my iMac from the Apple Store.  Let me say again that the entire Apple experience was excellent.  I picked up the computer, broght her home and started the restore from my Time Machine backup.  Amazingly, everything looks just the same as it did the last time a backup was run.  It's so nice to have a full-size monitor screen again.  The Macbook was a life-saver, but hard to look at for long periods of time.

The tree is almost finished, but I ran out of steam and will get it done tomorrow after work.  Here's a photo of a cute new ornament for this year.  The label called her "Princess Kitty" and that reminded me of Oreo.  She was our "Princess Kitty" most of the time. How could I resist?

November 29

One day left in the month!  Yikes!!

Today was not the greatest.  I dragged out the Christmas tree and decorations.  The tree top got a little bent while in the garage for the last 11 months.  The tree is in position and has the strings of beads on it that we use instead of garland.

Other than that, I had a headache all afternoon and evening.  One good thing did happen--I got the call that my computer is ready to pick up.  I'll do that Sunday morning and hope that restoring my backup goes smoothly.  Wish me luck!

November 28

I had a busy day today and almost forgot to make today's post.  I did lots of things around the house to get ready for putting up the Christmas tree and the rest of the decorations.

I finished the hat for Jason.  He request off-white--should be interesting to see how that works out.

Digital scrapbooking has taken hold on me again.  I shopped at several Black Friday sales looking for new kits to use for my 2008 Christmas Journal.  This is an online class offered by Shimelle Laine. 

Thanksgiving Day

Wow, can you believe that we only have 3 November days left?

We had a very nice Thanksgiving day.  It was pretty quiet and fixing dinner moved at a leisurely pace.  Unfortunately, Jason & Chris had to leave tonight to go back home.  Their visits are never very long these day--too much going on in Los Angeles to hang out down here in Orange County.

Will you be shopping tomorrow?  I won't be--the older I get the less I enjoy fighting the crowds.  There's not much that could prod me to get out to a mall that early.  That hasn't always been true, but the hassle and crowds are just not worth it as far as I'm concerned.

Hope you had a good day, whether you had a holiday to celebrate or no!

Thanksgiving Eve

I hope that if you will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow that it is a great day.  If tomorrow is a regular day where you are, I hope it's a great one, too.

Both my sons are here for the holiday and we will have a quiet family dinner and enjoy their company.  Once the cooking and cleaning up are finished, my plan is to lay low and do as little as possible.  I might decorate our Christmas tree, but that's not certain.

See you Thursday!

November 25

Typing the date just made me feel a little sick to my stomach.  Christmas is one month from today!  I'm so not ready.

Today was a nice day.  We had our department's potluck luncheon at work and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Tomorrow the company is providing lunch for all the employees.  I hope we get to leave early, but not counting on that happening.

I finished another Barn Raising square tonight and started the next one while watching Season 1 of "Mad Men".

See you tomorrow...