Get Enough Rest

Since it's almost 2 AM, my theme for the day ahead is to get enough rest. My schedule is all cattywumpuss from having such a hectic weekend. So I overslept this morning, and then didn't feel tired until a few minutes ago. But it's off to bed with me as soon as I finish this post.

PS Don't forget to follow my blog. Nighty night.

Keys

Today's theme is a quote I saw on Facebook. "No one can drive you crazy unless you give them the keys." So I'm keeping my keys in my pocket today and doing my best to be less vulnerable, less confrontational, more slow to anger, less irritable, and basically I'm not going to 'be pecked to death by ducks' to quote Maya Angelou.

Shop Til You Drop

Today's theme must have been shop til you drop because I suddenly found myself on a shopping spree.  That's what happens when I have no money for so long, then when I get some I am out of so many things. First I went to return a shirt to J's fashion. They had forgotten to take the security tag off of it.  A lot of good the tag did...the alarm didn't beep when I left, nor when I brought the shirt back into the store.
While I was there I also got socks, 2 scarves for gifts, some eye shadow, and 2 more t-shirts.

Then I went to the new bargain store next door and spent another $20. It's huge with everything from  yarn to canned baby corn.

After that I needed to get new shoes so it was off to Payless Shoe Source. Then the bank, then the grocery store and finally home. I better slow down or I won't have enough money to get to the end of the month.

New Black Heels

Clean up the Clutter

Today's theme is 'clean up the clutter'.  I tackled one of the worst kitchen shelves. That is to say I cleaned it off, but my boyfriend has a cow if I throw anything out, so he'll have to go through the basket of food to see what he wants to keep.  It's not going back on that shelf unless it's edible. We had stuff on there he forgot we had, like dried mushrooms and spaghettini.  We just bought a new pack of spaghettini because he said we didn't have any.  It was at the very back of the shelf so I'm not surprised he didn't know it was there.

Fall in Love With Fashion

My theme for today is "Fall in Love With Fashion". In a perfect world I'll come up with a new outfit each day and post it to my new blog the Frugal Fashionista. I know that's not realistic because life rarely cooperates with my master plans, but it's worth a try. I have a love hate relationship with fashion because I'm a 'big girl' and all the other euphemisms for women that don't look like super models. But I find fashion a great creative outlet so I'm going for it.

Speaking of fashion blogs, I also have one on Tumblr called Splashion.
Happy New Year everyone.

Happy New Year Wish I Drank Champagne 2012

I was going through my 84 blogs and realized I neglected this one. Oopsy. I am still trying to improve my life. And be a better person. Older and wiser and all that. I guess my resolution should be to keep up with my blogs. It's about 3 hours till midnight here. So if you are reading this, rub your screen for some good luck New Year's Magic.

Keeping Commitments

I think commitments are so hard to keep because we make so darn many of them, and some are just woven into the fabric of life. Today is Valentine's Day, a day fraught with expectations, and too often disappointments.  So my only goal today is to take my boyfriend's mom out to lunch. She seems to be his main focus lately, and I don't particularly enjoy going, but you should see the hassles if I don't go. So I got her balloons, and I got her a card, because he just never seems to get around to it.

I miss my mother,who is passed on, and I miss my kids, who live far away, and given my druthers I'd rather spend time with them. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.

Finishing

I have so many unfinished projects that today's theme is "Finishing Things". Already I finished my letter to Carol. Unfortunately I missed the mailman.

I need to finish the two scarves I'm making for the Special Olympics.

Make Things Happen

I realized I'm spending too much time thinking and not enough time doing, so I made a to-do list on my to-do private blog, and immediately sprung into action. Right now I just ran into the house to get my yarn organized for a knitting project. See my knitting blog for more on that.
I got some fiction reading done.  I can't keep renewing those books!
I got some housework done too. Now, back to the knitting.

Add Beauty to Your Surroundings

Dragon Needle Punch by Fayme Harper

I shall endeavor today to pick a part of my apartment and make it as beautiful as I can. In my case, that probably means decluttering it. I have way too much stuff in too small of a space.

Just Move On

My theme today is "Just move on". I tend to linger on things too long, then my to-do list doesn't get done.  Like I may play Farmville too long.  Or I'll be sitting on a couch and an old movie was on when I sat down. I've already missed the first 20 minutes of it, but I feel compelled to watch till the end. Why? An object at rest tends to remain at rest I suppose.

I feel like this gourd, just sitting around doing nothing.

Or I'll be in the Etsy chatroom. Now the first 20 minutes are very useful.  But 2 hours? That's a bit too much. I need to limit my Etsy visits to 20 or 30 minutes.  I'd be better off posting new items than lurking in chat. Typically my mood goes downhill if I stay there too long. It's a new year so new rule...just move on.

Find Your Motivation

A vase I designed with inlaid glass that didn't come out as nice as I hoped it would.

Or in my case, find MY motivation. I have so many cool plans. Plans that go nowhere if I don't apply some elbow grease in the right direction. I've had a lot of gardening motivation lately. I need some sewing motivation. I keep flipping through patterns, cutting things out and planning, but I'm not finishing anything. I get bogged down somewhere in the middle. It's so frustrating.

Appealing

Today's theme is to make everything more appealing. So I started with my garden and got rid of a lot of weeds and grass.  Then I planted sunflower seeds and 3 varieties of tomato plants. I also found out that cilantro clippings have wonderful feathery leaves and delicate white flowers and work great as cut flowers. So I put some of those in a vase in my kitchen, and if I need them for a recipe, I just pull a stem out and cut it up with my kitchen shears and toss it into the soup or salad or stir-fry. So now the garden is more appealing, even though I still have a lot of work to do out there.

 

 Coriander or Cilantro

Tomato plant.

Move or Die

Today's theme has a double meaning for me. The first is exercise or you will die. Staying in shape is so important, and I must honestly say I'm in sorry shape.

The second meaning is I've never wanted to live in S. Calif. If I don't get out of here I just feel myself dying a bit each day. So I need to move out but have no money to go anywhere and a boyfriend that is bent on staying here the rest of his life.

 

My friend doing archery.

Working with Botanicals

Today I was straightening dried river cane to use for atlatl darts. Sometimes we take nature's bounty for granted. We walk right by plants that could be used for food, shelter, clothing or tools. I'm glad to see everything with new eyes after hanging out with the archers from Paleoplant. Now everything is a potential rope, hat, bow, or pair of shoes.

Paint Something Fun

Today's theme is painting for fun. Keep a painting kit handy for when the mood strikes. You don't want to lose all your motivation by having to hunt for every brush, sponge, and tube of paint. Keep it all together in one place so you can get going in a few minutes. It is more fun for me to have a few things going at once, so while one is drying I can get busy on the other one. Happy painting.

Make Time For Music

Sketch of my daughter.

I just added a Playlist with auto shuffle. If you need to turn the music off, it's partway down on the right side. Look for the purple rectangle.  But I hope you will stay and enjoy it.

Exercise No Matter What

Today's theme is Exercise No Matter What. Pick something you enjoy and get moving.  Here I am with a homemade hoop. And I refuse to worry about what my neighbors think. Their idea of fun is smoking on their balcony.

Make Time For Fun

Pismo Beach Pier

December can be extremely hectic. Don't forget to add some fun time to your schedule. If you are always with people, go do something by yourself. If you are often alone, go do something with new friends.

Bake Something Yummy

Gingerbread Cookies. A Scotty and a Gingerbread boy.