Having a day off!

The New Years resolutions I am really sticking to, not the only one but one of, is to have a day off on the weekend. I do a load or 2 of laundry a night when I get home from work, hound my husband to pick up during the week and on Friday night or Saturday morning we have been cleaning top to bottom to have Sundays off.

So with my new time off I have had time and energy to do a few things I want to.

One bone of contention around here is dressing up the min pin Edie. We have 4 dogs but only Edie would be a dog you would dress up. She weights a whopping 5 lbs, has no body fat and very short hair. The poor thing gets cold in the winter!

However, my husband and sons HATE the fact I put a sweater on the dog. She owned three items, a sherpa style coat Lauren bought her when she got her and then gave to me when she gave me the dog, a small pink sweater again from Lauren and a hot pink handspun sweater I made her, her first winter with us. All are size x-small. They are now too small for her. She wears an X-small around but she is now too tall so they pull but items from the store in size small tend to be too big.

So I set out to make her a coat to keep her warm, to keep her from digging at my blankets all the time dragging them across the floors to find warmth, and something the boys would possibly not detest.

The solution! Camo fleece coat for Edie! It's not quite a snuggly because it lacks arms and actually stays on, and it's keeping her warm. She hasn't been shivering all day and is running around completly content in her camo coat.

The husband and the boys still think it's stupid to dress up the dog and not pretend they can't find her to let her out....oh well at least I'm not making her dresses and such!


I was still in the simple sewing mode, things I could make fast, with what I have, without making or using a pattern because I HATE using patterns. Well my one son needed new pajama pants, he's tall, skinny and lanky and no matter what fits his waist is about 4 inches to short.

With less than 2 yards of walmart $1 table flannel and about 30 min I created him some new pajama pants. He was given no choice in color, it was what ever mom had on hand. But they now fit perfect with a little room to grow and no more high waters.

So this is how I get to spend my day off without chores. 1 well dressed dog and 1 well dressed child. Now it's time to go knit on my wandering vines sock as I am still working on finishing off all WIP's before begining any new projects.

A New Year to commit myself.....Ummmm????

New Years resolutions seem to be those things you make then break. Some of us try harder than others to stick with it for a month or so but soon most of us fall off the wagon back to old habits.

If you are one of those that has been able to keep to these resolutions then Good For You! But, I think it's because some of us make more realistic goals, and that is what I have been trying to do every year.

One year my goal was to try out a new yarn a month to expand on my fiber knowledge. I came close to fulfilling this resolution, funds ran short so it was hard to keep to but not for want. I think one of the most important things is to make any resolution, any life changing decision, known to your family and friends so you can have a support system as well as someone to answer to.

I also wanted a large list of resolutions. I generally make 1 or 2 and they are usually things like exercise daily and try a lot of yarn....I can do one but not the other, lets set reasonable goals and enough to make us feel like effort is required.

So without further ado here are my resolutions for 2010

1. Finish all knitting, crocheting and sewing WIPs prior to starting any new projects. I haven't even counted how many I have but off the top of my head I can think of 16 so I know there's probably twice that eeepp!

2. To have no more than 4 WIPs at a time after finishing off what I have started in the past few years, and to finish off at least 1 prior to starting a new one.

3. To publish one design a month, these could be knitting crocheting or sewing and could be free or for sale but at least one a month! I do actually design a lot because I have that perpetual issue of not being able to focus on actually following a pattern, but, I never write this stuff down so I'll have to get better at that.

4. This is a hard one, to lessen the bitching about work and just suck it up and go to work and come home and put it all away. For those who know me or follow me on plurk they know I am there a good 10-15 hrs a day so it is my life right now, but I do need to stop letting it get to me and the fact I feel it's just a job and not a career I crave

5. Figure out what career I actually want. I can do whatever I set my mind to and I'm not trying to sound pompous. I am a great employee pouring myself into what ever is needed and always trying to accommodate. I'm not an "assistant to" anyone but the common joke is that I am my bosses personal secretary because I just try to make his life easier by doing what I can so he doesn't have to see it, deal with it or stress about it. I educate myself on what ever the topic at hand is so I can be perfect at my job. I am a perfectionist or strive to be one, I know an issue for those that have to live with me, but, thats how I am. I am also steadfastly loyal! So for all that I can say I am the perfect employee never sick, never late, always there, always on, always willing to do more and more and educating myself as I go. I just don't know what career there is for me in this region of the world as it's been economically depressed for as long as I have known and I'm not the cute or hot girl with a ton of connections that has career opportunities just presented to her. So I really need to figure out what I want to do here, moving isn't an option sadly, and then figure out how to achieve that. College, even though I loved it, only produced $65,000 worth of debt and absolutly no jobs....ok enough bitching about that!

6. To blog at least once a week! I will have to figure out which day of the week will work best but at leats once a week is, I think, an achievable goal. I've actually been quite busy but looking at my neglected blog one woul never know.

7. To not purchase anymore craft supplies unless needed for the current job at hand. I really have enough of a stash of yarn, material and notions to make a ton of stuff I just always buy whats on sale or when I have a coupon and just can't anymore (see #5 which infered student loans UGH)

8. Creative cooking. I once had to create recipes and try new things out. I fell out of loving to cook and taking pride in it but would like to get back into cooking on the creative level of producing usable, functioning, reproducable recipes. I will go for once a month though, I do work 60hr weeks and then clean all weekend a girl can't commit to too much here.

9. To spend more quality family time with my husband and sons even if that means I have to play xbox, wii and playstation to do so. We usually watch TV or movies together, sometimes play aboard game, but the boys are just getting busier as highschool creeps up on us and my husband and my job don't always mesh to do a lot.

10. To take 1 day a week to have to do nothing. Nothing planned, no work, so a saturday or sunday, no expectations, no laundry, no cleaning etc. This will mean that after a 15 hr day I'll have to come home and instead of sitting down to relax go do laundry instead but I need one day to just loaf and be a blob...probably the opposite of most resolutions where people are trying to figure out how and where to fit in more exercise and self help classes, no offese if those are your resolutions, but, the most self help I can have and the best thing for my health at this time will be to have 1 day a week where I can just destress!

OK 10 is enough and please feel free to share your delight and disgust of my choices, I am sure someone will critique the order of the list or the length of certain statements vs others. But, share with someone your resolutions because when you think about it any resolution is because you accept you have a flaw and wish to better yourself, which is never a bad thing, but, share that desire with people who can help you obtain that goal because you can't be a better person if you isolate yourself from humainty.

It's now 1:30am here...perhaps one of my resolutions should have been to go to bed at a decent hour? naaahhh we said achievable goals

Happy New year and may 2010 be even better for us all

Happy hooking, pleasent purling, spin your hearts out and sew a bunch. I will be here for 2010 and hope you all help hold me to resolution 6.