More Zenning or Walking

After dinner I got the brilliant idea that because I needed about 1,200 more step to reach my step goal, I should clean out Eric’s 3 travel bags.  Which lead to a full trash can, 3 bags for Goodwill, more things for Taglit and a small pile of towels for the humane society.  Did I mention the 6th load of laundry for the day? This left me emotionally exhausted, but I did reach my step goal for the day.

I wonder if I can fill one more bag for Goodwill before I drive all over Tucson dropping things off.  I am not sure where the day went, but I should try to get to sleep before to comes in 7 minutes.

A Busy Day

Today besides a doctor's appointment and a physical therapy visit,  I started organizing my handmade items for the November 10th fundraiser at the Tucson JCC For Eric's day program. At best I have 3 tubs of items with very few items left in the pipeline to finish. Well maybe John's dreams will come true and I will come home with 4 empty tubs.

We we also had less than 10 trick or treater's tonight. I blame it on being a school night. I bought as much candy as I did last year but had so few kids and we have so much leftover candy. John and I did not even touch the candy this year.  Yeah for us. Our leftover candy will be sent to Operation Gratitude so that they can include candy in the holiday care packages for our troops. 

The neighbor who picked up our unwanted Halloween decorations yesterday, thanked me for them tonight. They are in her front yard and her kids love the "new" decorations. I will have to drive around and see where they landed. This is recycling at its best. 

I just need to wait 1 1/2 hours so I can take some more Excedrin for my hand. I have noticed that about 10 to 12 hours after physical therapy my hand just starts to throb. So I guess that I will find a quiet activity to do and try not to wake the guys up. 

This and That

The day started out with a BBD, but I did my best anyway. Now that my hand range is increasing, the exercises at physical therapy are getting harder. I don't know how they mange to get my hand so tired in 1 hour, that I need a 2 hour nap after therapy just to recoup.

I did get a lot of finishing work done today. I also started tagging some of the items. I am caught up to the point where I need to take inventory and see what I need to make to round off my fundraising table on November 10, 2016 at the Tucson JCC. Remember that 100% of the sale price will go to Taglit, which is Eric's day program and other special needs expenses not covered by program fees.  So it would be a great time to get your holiday gifts. 

I also decided to reduce the number of craft bags that I have. To that extent, John helped me empty out the hall closet of all the bags. I then started to sort through them. I have a bag and a half of craft bags ready to leave the house, this is from the quick first sort through. I will go through the rest of the bags again at a more leisurely pace and make the final cut on what I am keeping.  I would estimate not more than 50% of what is left. This of course does not count the bags that already have projects in them, they do not count in this process. 

Well it is almost tomorrow so it is time to call it a day. 

Quilt Layout

I have gotten to the quilt lay out stage of the Taglit Memory Quilt. This is being made from 4 Taglit sweatshirts.  This will be the  center piece of the Annual Taglit Fundraiser on November 11, 2016. I will have the measurements after I finish the sewing.  This will be my first Shabby Chic Quilt. I will get together with my team to figure out the pricing.  

1975 and More

Today was spent doing laundry, I only had 7 loads today. All but the last 3 are finished and put away.   One of the loads was the last 2 rag rugs for the sale on the 21st of October at the Tucson JCC to benefit the Taglit program. All I have to do is trim the little bits and pieces.  I also finished one scarf and started another scarf.  

The big news of the day is that I started working on the next phase of the remodel, yes I know the kitchen is not finished yet.  I am so excited that my craft room is our very next project, that I started working on that project today.   While I was sewing the edging of the rag rugs it occurred to me that I had a whole lot of cake decorating patterns that were so politically incorrect that they had to go. Don't get me wrong, they were ok to make in the mid 1970's, but this is not the 1970's anymore.   So I gained a whole 5 inches of shelf space back.  Yes, they were recycled. It may not sound like much, but it is a start.  

Rumor has it that the rest of the cabinets and the granite are arriving tomorrow.  

The First Change

Today I finished a 3 day sewing marathon that resulted in 35 bibs for the Taglit fundraiser at the Tucson JCC on Wednesday. We will be there from 8 am to 4 pm. The car wash will finish up at 1 pm. 

So this picture below is the 1st change made possible by clearing the clutter of someone Else's dream for me. That space use to hold the terry cloth towels and wash cloths necessary to make 35 bibs. I have to be honest the first 5 were fun to do. I still enjoyed the sewing yesterday, but my hands were absolutely useless for knitting last night. Today I wanted to avoid the project at all costs but forced my self to finish the remaining 15 bibs. I could not knit tonight either. The bottom picture is of 30 of the 35 bibs. I can say with out a doubt that this is not the business I want to be in. Even using production line techniques I maxed out at 15 bibs a day. I could not see myself sewing bibs day in and day out. 

I will continue to make all of Eric's bibs but I usually only have to do a dozen every year or so. Not such a bad task. I can get it done before I am tired of them.

So I was finally able to un-box the carding board I am going to make rolagaes on. I still have space left over. I got the carding board from Sheep Banks.  You can find her on Facebook.  

Well it is time to call it a day. 

Another Big Change

Today I spent the day making bibs. Most were baby or toddler size.  I have started clearing out others peoples dreams of what I should be doing with my life. Even others peoples dreams of the next big money maker. If it really was a big money maker why were they not doing it for themselves? Why did I need to do it? I will be finishing half done projects and clearing them out of the house. I will try to spend 1 day a week doing this.  In this new phase of my life I will only take on  new projects that I want to do. I want to spend time exploring my creative side. I can not accomplish this by doing unpaid work that other people think I should be doing. I will pick my own charity projects.

The upside of all of this is that I will have more space for the things I want. By sewing the bibs today I have cleared 1/2 of a shelf in the craft room.  Less is really more.  I will also have a lot of different things that can be used by the Taglit Day Program for fund raising at the Tucson JCC to benefit Eric and his friends.

So to sum up this change a succinctly as I can here goes. If your name is not Teri, John, Eric, Lisa or Matthew. If you are not the Taglit Day Program at the Tucson JCC. If you are not a charity near and dear to my heart. The answer to most unpaid inquires will be no. I will not buy the supplies. I will not drop everything to get your project done and fall behind on things that really need to get done. After so many decades on this earth I will not be every one's go to  person who always says yes.




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Another Day at Home

Eric decided very early today that he did not want to leave the house. So we caught up on things like the rose parade and a few situation comedy's. I also worked on making some earrings for the next fundraiser for Eric's day program. Nothing fancy this is the $5 to &10 crowd.  I will make a couple of dozen more and call it quits on those. 

Today Eric needed lots of attention so I spent most of the day just trying to keep him happy. The one accomplishment that he seems very happy with is that he made 4 loads of laundry all by himself. I did not even get to the towels or our clothes, but I can work on that tomorrow. 

I noticed this evening that my pants were starting to get a bit uncomfortable.  They are riding about an inch above where they are suppose to be.  When I lowered them to where they we're suppose to be they just looked all droopy.  I guess this means that in a few more months it will be time to shop my closet again and then hit the sale rack. 

Well Eric is fianally asleep so it's time to call it a night. 

Creative Spirit

I have been working with some fabulous jewelry designers from the Taglit Group at the Tucson JCC. They get to rummage through some of my beads and designing earrings which I then put together for them. They are coming up with some incredible designs that I would not even have considered. I usually try to keep my earring systematical. They are going asymmetrical and in all different ways because they have not learned the rules. I think that after working with these creative young people I will try to throw some of the rules out the window too. In the past few weeks most have also been shown the basics of weaving and are busy making Mug Rugs. Over the summer they were busy making dog toys and greeting cards.

This is all in preparation for our big spring bake sale, car wash and craft sale. This will all happen on March 11, 2014 in front of the Tucson JCC starting at 8 am. and running until 3 pm. The money raised will cover projects not covered by state funding or grants. It also show the young adults from the Taglit Special Needs  Program for Young Adults that they can create things that other people had not thought possible from them.

So I would like to urge everyone to stop by with a dirty car to be washed. A shopping list of gifts to buy for people and pets and room for some bake sale goodies. I might even have a few hand crafted items available with the total purchase price of my items going to the Taglit Program.

If you can't stop by, but would still like to help this great group of young adults with special needs just follow the links and make a donation. For cash donations follow this link and indicate Inclusion on your donation form. If you can make an in-kind donation follow this link to Wish List. If you would like to order some Greeting Cards that are sold in packages of five, please use the link.

I would like to thank you in advance for your support. This means a lot to Eric and his friends.

Getting Crafty

I took Eric to The Lego Movie today. It was a cute movie although I would not recommend it for the visually impaired. There are just to many booms and unpredictable loud noises. My hand is still a bit sore from all the gripping Eric did almost 12 hours later. 

I also got 19 pairs of earrings done for the mid March fund raiser that Eric's Taglit group is doing. I would have made more but I was loosing my natural light. I find that natural light is better for me when I make jewelry. 

Tomorrow I plan on making more jewelry plus deciding what supplies to take on Monday when some of Eric's friends get a chance to design some of their own pieces. 

It has been a busy day and tomorrow looks a little fuller.  So I am calling it a night. 

Slow Progress

The good news of the day is that as of this evening Eric is back on his formula. We did go for a slow start but he is all smiles. It is my hope that his post viral asthma does not keep him up tonight.

I had a pretty good day today. I started on my pile of finishing work. The pair of slippers, 2 kerchiefs and mini wash cloth will be available at the Next Taglit Fundraiser for Eric's day program. Because of the I-cord on the scarfs you will notice my counter is up over 1000 more stitches on the million row challenge. I am also blocking 2 wash cloths (not counted yet) that will go in my Etsy store when they are dry.

Besides the finishing work I did get another square finished on Teri's blanket, that makes 193 squares done and some where around 50 to go plus the border. I am almost finished with another kerchief. I spent the night spinning small bits of fluff, mostly 1/4 ounces samples from my last Phat Fiber box. I even spent a few minutes cleaning in the craft room. We are having company in November and I am not sure they want to sleep in a bed of yarn and fluff. I need an early start. I can give them some closet space, but the drawers a full of yarn.

Tomorrow I will do some more finishing work with the goal of listing a few new items in my on line store. What would you like to see first hand spun yarn or hand knit items? I only have a small backpack full of things to be finished for tomorrow with most destined to be sold on line or at the next fundraiser.

While cleaning I found the pattern that I was looking for, so tomorrow I will pair it with the yarn. Well I think since Eric will be home again tomorrow I should get a little extra sleep tonight.

A Little Too Busy

I know it has been awhile since my last blog post. We have been very busy since then. The antibiotic that Eric is taking for his LRI gave him a thrush infection. The good news is that I now know what to look for and we got him on an anti fungal before we landed up at the hospital. Score one for me.  I have had a lot of long nights in the past week so I am very glad that everyone slept through the night.

While I have been sitting with Eric, I have been getting a lot of knitting done. With the exception of the finishing work I have gotten 3 projects finished in 3 days. I have my knitting mojo back which has come at a perfect time. There is another fundraiser for Eric's Taglit Program coming up. I am using this as an opportunity to use up a lot of cotton, rayon and sock yarn from the what was I thinking drawers. If I can keep up this pace I will be able to reorganize my primary stash and possibly bring one box of yarn out of the garage in the coming week.

It has been firmed up that I will be teaching 2 classes at Eric's summer program. One will be a weaving class. This means that all my little scraps of yarn will go towards that project. The other is making a beaded bracelet. I think I will be working with the younger group of high school students.

I have also decided that it is time for a new lounge chair by the pool. The one we bought in 1995 is getting too hard to sleep on. We have only had it for 18 years and I was not ready to part with it. So we will keep that one and buy 1 new one for the purpose of napping. It's time to start looking for the sales. I was so close to buying one at the end of last summer but held off, darn I really missed that call.

Eric's aide is almost done, so it is time to end this blog and get back to work. Have a great day everyone.

Keeping Out of Trouble

The longer that John is retired the more we seem to be doing. We worked together on Thursday and Friday to clean house for a party and get the jump on passover cleaning. About all we have to do is clean the stove and polish the cabinets. John and I make a great team. I also got some spinning done and a few more rows of Teri's shawl done.

Today I walked with a friend at the walk for the cure. It was no very well organized, but we had a great time anyway and plan to do it next year. I had 9,000 of my 10,000 daily steps done before lunch today. I am also over 10,500 steps for the day so I am I a roll. I thought I would have some energy after the walk to buy some new summer shoes, since I have shrunk out of all of mine. Can you believe that I lost weight in my feet? There is a little bit of a need to rush this, because all my pants are getting longer again. Even the new ones. YEAH!!!

You will notice a very big jump in my counter as I have finally logged over 1000 more rows to my One Million Row Challenge. Most of it went to fundraising for Eric's day program so they could plant a garden. If I have not mentioned it before, we did make our goal.

I am still a little to tired to tackle the chores. John and I will get them out of the way early tomorrow. Well Eric's aide is here so it is time to get things moving.

A Short Catch Up

It has been a busy couple of days around here. The days have been long and the results are amazing despite Eric not sleeping well.

Tuesday was a day full of appointments. Followed by an afternoon of making jewelry and packing up for Wednesday.

Yesterday was a big day for Eric's Day program, the Taglit group. The fund raiser was to try to earn enough money to fund the garden and nutrition program. The very good news is that the goal was achieved. There are still a few plants and hand knit cotton soap bags available. So Just drop by the JCC between 8 am and 3 pm. Monday through Friday.  Stop by the front desk and say that you would like to buy a plant or a soap bag to support the Taglit program.  Sixty three items left my stash of handmade items to help the cause. Just think about how much yarn was used from my stash.

This means I have a chance to create more items and will have a lot of room for them. My to do list will  go as follows:

1. Teri's shawl ( a home project ). 1 1/2 skeins to go.
2. Project Gratitude scarfs ( my on the go project )
3. Teri's queen size blanket that I started her 1L year. This project has gone a little slower than I would have liked. Yes Teri has finished 3 years of law school and passed the California Bar. But in my defense I did finish the pair of socks that I started when Teri and I were looking at law schools. Yes a very poor defense. ( a dining room table project ) 2/3 left to knit.
4. Some things for me that I have wanted to knit for me.
5. Adding some more shawls to my inventory. ( knitting with girls friends)
6. Knitting a few different style hats.
7. Make some more pretty jewelry and possibly make some shawl pins.
8. To card some of my own batts.
9. Type up and take photo's of new pattern designs.
10. Finish a few new designs.
11.  Last but not least to find some time to spin.

Since I spent the entire day at the Tucson JCC yesterday house cleaning started at 6 am today. I am so lucky that John did the windows and all of the polishing. This let me do the laundry and other work that I needed to do. I got the last skein of Yarn for Teri's shawl wound, but I was much to tired to knit today. Tomorrow will be full of cooking and cleaning. Since Eric is asleep I think I will end the blog post here tonight.

A Very Busy Day

Well after another long night with Eric, it was nap time this morning when he went to his day program. After a few hours of really deep slumber it was caffeine with sugar time. After that kicked in, I spent the next 2 1/2 hours cleaning and throwing.  Finding a few things I needed but a lot that I did not. At least 4 loads went out to the recycling barrel today. Thank goodness the trash company emptied it this morning or it would have over flowed and they just don't like that. I even inspired John to add to his to do list getting rid of papers we don't need. He now has to keep up with me in the cleaning.

 After being married for so long I never thought it would happen. John has always been the neat organized one. I come from generations of pack rats. Keeping everything because you never know when you will need this gizmo or that empty jar. I am now finding that the neater and less cluttered the house is the more time I have to craft. Plus it takes me a lot less time to find things. I have more free time too.  I have not told John this yet but he is right and has been right all along.

I also had time for some finishing work today. I wove in and trimmed all the loose yarn. When I manage to get everything tagged and photographed I can add over 1,000 rows to my 1 Million Row Challenge.

I did find time this afternoon to start making the earrings for Wednesday. So far 4 pairs are finished. Since I will not have time to make all the earrings that I had hoped to, I will be adding a new component to Wednesdays fundraiser for Taglit. For a donation of $25.00 to the Taglit Day program, I will make you a custom pair of earrings on the spot. You will get to choose the components and no one else will have anything like it. So be sure to stop by the Tucson JCC on Wednesday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. There will also be plants for sale, along with Mothers Day Soap Bags, greeting cards and various hand made items. The majority of the money will help pay for the gardening and nutrition project. Any left over money will be used to cover things that the state does not cover. There is also a wish list of things that the program needs. For cash donations use this link. You can choose other and write Taglit in the box below.

Well there have been a couple of long days in a row. So hopefully Eric will sleep tonight or I will start the day with caffeine.

Stash Down

Yes, the title is right. About 30 skeins of yarn left the house today. No not bare naked yarn, that would be just silly. I modified the knit along of a few months back to make it more efficient to knit. This is a very good thing, because 30 finished Soap Bags with I-cord ties left the house today.  I tried to get them all in the picture. They went to the Tucson JCC Taglit Program for a Mother's Day fundraiser this coming Wednesday. We will be right outside the front door. There will also be plants, greeting cards, and earrings for sale. This will fund the Taglit garden project.

In case you were not aware of the Taglit program, I will tell you a little about it and what it means to our family. The Taglit program that Eric goes to is Monday through Friday during the Day. The young adults range in age from 18 up to the low 30's.  Eric gets to hang out with his friends, some of them from as far back as pre-school when they were 4. He also has friends that he went to school and new friends too. They hang out, go on field trips, do community service, work on life skills and have a great time doing it. Eric is learning to ride a tricycle, which is a big wow to us. He also get to go swimming once a week. We on the other hand get a break from the non-stop care and attention Eric requires daily.

Even before the sequester hit money was tight for the extras the young adults like to do. This is where the fund raisers come in. The sale gives the young adults life skills, raises much needed cash and gives them a chance to show off the greeting cards they have designed. With the soap bags they will be doing the finishing work by weaving in the I-cord and putting in the soap. Lastly they will be tagging the bags for sale. Eric hopes to see you there on Wednesday.

Moving Along

Well I would like to say if you have not been to my house in the last 6 months you will not recognize it. With the deep house cleaning almost done I have time for knitting and spinning. This is a very good thing. I am doing a benefit show for Eric's Day Program at the Tucson JCC on November 28.  I will post the details as I get them. This would be a good day to do your holiday shopping and get a snack at the bake sale. I will be donating 100% of my sales to the Taglit program. The young people in the program have also designed a line of greeting cards which will be sold. Stay tuned for further details.

Since dinner is cooked I am off to knit.