Good thing it's almost February

So, my New Year's/Month's Resolutions... Yeah, not so much.  Some of it was due to some health issues, and some of it was due to some poor planning.  For instance: If I had a big project, that I needed to work on all day, I wouldn't write down my three things to do that day.  Then, once I'd finished that project, I'd give myself a "break" and get out of the habit of writing my three things.  I've been having some issues, meds-wise, that's kinda thrown me for a loop.  However, the beauty of New Month Resolutions is that you get a chance to try again every month.  So, that's good.

Tiny house front:
I've seen pictures of converted buses before, but until I saw this bus (originally seen on FaceBook, and taken from twistedsifter.com [NOTE!!!  I do NOT own the images on that link]).  There are some wonderful images of converted buses (by the way, the plural of bus is a weird thing to need to look up).  I love the light, and the fact that you can buy a bus for a heck of a lot cheaper than putting up a frame on a trailer.  There are pro's and con's on both sides, of course, but at the moment, I'm leaning toward the bus rather than the trailer.  I've promised my dad that I won't make a decision until after I've gone to the tiny house workshop (March 23rd!  Can't wait!), but it's hard when I can find a bus that I can buy now (albeit wiping out my savings in one fell swoop).

Anyway, tonight I've got fencing (awesome!), then I'm driving down to Springfield for a meeting with some friends (awesome-er!), and I'm super pumped.  Then, Sunday, I've got to drive back up for my sister-in-law's baby shower.  I suppose I ought to actually get the quilt finished!  LOL!

Busy as a Bee

The last month has been ridiculously sewing laden.  I've finished two quilts, two pairs of pajamas, two dolly pajamas, two dolly quilts, and a Ren Fair costume.  Then, after the sewing was finished, I knitted two dish cloths.  I also had to clean and oil my machine in the middle, since while I was quilting, my machine was squeaking and wheezing.  Not so good!  Picture time!

Another Owl Quilt.  This one went a lot faster than the first one!

A Landscape art quilt.  Lots of embroidery.

Neander-fairy.  I kinda think she's funny.

This part was interesting to do.  I actually had printed off a triquetra and sewed through it.

The most annoying part of the process (actually it wasn't too bad, I just worked on this for way too long, so everything became annoying)

Ren Costume.  Really fun!

Now, here's a question for the blog-o-sphere.  I have a very large stash of fabric.  I didn't realize how large until I had to live with it in my room.  Being an ecologically responsible person, I tend to save scraps, thinking that I will eventually use them.  This is directly at odds with my desire to live in a tiny house.  So, here are the horns of my dilemma.  Save the scraps that are too small for anything but a quilt, or throw them away?  I don't like to throw anything away.  Inherited trait.  But I went through a few of my boxes and found scraps from at least three years ago that I hadn't even looked at.  Hmm....

You might be wondering how I'm doing on my New Month Resolutions.  Well... Not so good.  The internet thing, I'm back to spending too much time on it.  I blame a new game on Facebook.  Well, that and my complete and utter lack of will power.  The active thing (which I realize now that I only posted on Facebook):  I'm not active every day, but more than I was, which I guess is a step in the right direction.  Writing down what I want to get done every day:  That falls by the wayside when there's a project that I want to get done.  Because then I only work on the project all day.  I need to pick it back up again, it really was helpful.  And finally only going out once a week:  I've been told that this wasn't exactly clear and that some people thought that it meant going out to eat.  While that's a good goal, I actually meant going out of an evening.  I do karaoke.  A lot.  While I don't drink much, it does keep me out and up later than is good for me.  Problem is, if someone asks me if I want to go out, I usually can't say no. It's a big psychological deal which probably means that I'm a compulsive people pleaser, but whatever.  Anyway, the great thing about making the resolutions monthly is that I have an opportunity to renew my commitment in three weeks.

New Year Pickle

Alright folks.  Here we are, another year.  I really intended to take the advice proffered by Rowdy Kittens' Tammy Strobel, and reflect over the last year.  Well... That didn't happen.  I have done a RIDICULOUS amount of sewing in the last month and a half.  So much so that my machine, which I had just taken in a few months ago is now squeaking as it runs.  Or limps.

HowEVER!  I did have a small amount of time in between sewing, family parties, and church to think about New Year's Resolutions.  My brother-in-law has this idea about New Year's Resolutions.  He thinks that we should have New Month resolutions instead, so that when we inevitably screw up, we have a maximum of 31 days (assuming that you can't even make it one day) to feel crappy about it.  Also, people make such grand sweeping statements: "This year, I'm going to get healthy!"  "I'm going to start really living my life."  Seriously, what the hell do they mean by that?  Ya really gotta be more specific, and realistic!

So, with almost no more ado, here we go with my NYR's.  I resolve to restart New Month resolutions.  I did it for a while, and they were great, but I lost focus.  So, here we are again.

That being said:  This month, I resolve to 1) write down my list of three things I want to accomplish each day, 2) spend no more than an hour a day on the computer, and only check e-mail each weekend morning, and 3) to only go "out" once a week.

One of my more treasured Christmas presents this year (way behind my niece's Heifer donations) was Tammy Strobel's book, "You Can Buy Happiness"  which is chock full of micro actions to help downsize your life.  The first two resolutions are from her suggestions.  If you want a suggestion from me, I'd say buy her book!  It's really good!

And now, since every good blog needs a good picture.

How many Randolph's does it take to open a pickle jar?  Two and a chain wrench.  Yep, that's how we roll.