WordGirl, #19, nature

For week 48 (November 26 - December 2), I had #19: "Spend some time in nature this week." I took Titus to the dog park, went up to the compost in our back yard, etc. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, I'm afraid. But having a puppy means getting outside several times every day! My arthritis (in my left knee) has been problematic lately, so I haven't been a super outdoors gal of late. My favorite place to spend time in nature is up at Strawberry Lake . . . or the BWCA . . . or in Maui, walking on the beach . . . sigh. I don't think I have a favorite.


Since I really like having an item to focus on and accomplish each week, I'm doing my One Thing again . . . for whatever reason, this helps me.

I will have a new daughter-in-law in June! Last Christmas, I just put up a store-bought Christmas stocking for her. I really wanted a personal stocking, though. I bought the sheep fabric in August (when Ann and I took the road trip to see the eclipse) and finally made the stocking this week! It isn't super fantastic . . . my sewing skills are still wanting. But I made it! Now Mari has her own, personal, LaMoore family Christmas stocking! The inside is pink flannel. I'm afraid the cuff got a little too snug . . . but it will have to do!

I called my first daughter-in-law (they married 4 1/2 years ago) and asked if she wanted a new stocking. Hers is pretty pink arctic fleece (fuzzy soft), but not a quilted stocking. She's fine with it (she told me) but I can make her a different one if I want. With all the sewing projects already needing my attention, I think I'm done with stockings for 2017!

WordGirl week 34 Item #2

Well, I'm slow on my blogging, but last week's 3F2E was pretty inspiring! I drew #2 - "Eat at least one salad this week." As you can see from my white board, I was successful. I made an effort to include more salads in my meals. It's so nice in the summertime when fresh veggies abound! (Plus a neighbor had made too much of the Thai peanut chicken salad and gave me a container of it . . . ) This was a really fun one. It probably helped that I spent Sunday and Monday of last week taking a road trip to Missouri to watch the eclipse with "Salad Girl," aka my sister Ann!

I set as my "One Thing" to finally unbox and set up my Juki, the sewing machine I bought in June. I got it out of the box, started reading the directions, and have the basics, but haven't yet actually sewn anything on it yet. I really, really need to get into my sewing room!

Week 8 Item #33 WordGirl

Okay, so this is a bit late (Wednesday), but I was not successful (yet) in doing this one. I haven't given up on it, but I am moving on.

#33 is "have a fix and repair session (glue broken stuff, repair damaged clothing, etc.) at least one day this week." I have a bin of stuff to be fixed, but that's more Louie's department. I'm not really careful . . . and though I can use superglue, I prefer to leave it to someone with patience and steady hands. I thought about repairing some clothing items, but my "One Thing" was more important to me!

I got my One Thing done!!! "Do Mystery Quilt February clue." I'm not going to add a picture here, because I don't feel like going up to my studio to snap it, but I spent about three hours (or more) on Saturday picking the fabrics, pressing, cutting, sewing, etc. They aren't great, but they're done!

I have a great extension on my work computer (in Chrome) called Momentum. Each day, it gives me a lovely picture, a greeting, a quotation, and asks me what my focus or goal is. This morning, I entered the goal. Kind of sad, but I made it! (It was a super busy day for me at work.) I think I need to clean the camera lens on my phone . . . but at least I didn't have a stroke!

Week 7 Item #14 WordGirl

Wow! I drew #14 - "If you are able, donate blood this week - if not, do some other charitable act."
Since I donated blood on 2/9/17, I  could not donate again this week. I also brought dinner to a friend who had had surgery last week.

I decided to focus on "some other charitable act" for February 12 - 18. I tried to be positive at work, I brought a load of Louise's stuff from her Jordan house to Bloomington. I gave snacks (animal crackers, pretzels, etc.) to lots of middle schoolers. I didn't do anything truly charitable, so I guess I'll rest on the laurels of last week's activity.

For my "One Thing" challenge to myself, I put "get together all the paperwork to do taxes." Well, I did that and Louie and I did our 2016 income taxes last Sunday! It felt really good to get that task done. I'm looking forward to a long weekend and some serious RandR!