The last one

I figured the last post of the year shouldn't be me lamenting how I've gotten nothing done.  Not that I really have anything brilliant or witty to say on this post, nothing really to say at all.

Because it should extend beyond ANY season....

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. ~ Brooks Atkinson

Motivation

I am horribly unmotivated....so far my weekend has been full of sleep, dog walks, and naps. 

The only thing I did today was in the kitchen....

Oatmeal apple biscuits.  Atticus isn't a fan.

And cheese biscuits.  Which Atticus kept trying to steal off the counter.

I also have chicken and beer in the crockpot (at the suggestion of a co-worker).  I'm not sure how it'll taste, but my apartment smells pretty good.

Now the trick is staying up long enough to eat it.  

I live my daydreams in music. ~ Albert Einstein

Back to the grind

I guess its back to normal life...

"I never met a pearl quite like you
who could shimmer and rot at the same time through
there's never been a better time than this
To bite the hand of the frost bitten eminence."
~ The Distillers

Majestic



Somewhere between Chicago and Harrisburg



In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. 

~ Steven Kloves, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

De-stressing

Finally in the home stretch of the sewing frenzy.  Got all my big stuff done.  Still haven't received my specialty fabrics so I need to make my nephew an alternative present, which I actually have all picked out and ready to go. 

But here represents several hours...

Many more hours....

Oh, and I also need to figure out what to do with him...

I even managed to get all these done so I could meet up with some board-gamers yesterday and play for 5 hours.  Awesome.

To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart. ~ Francesco Guicciardini

Rain

Atticus took one look outside this morning and came right back in.

Outside my back porch.  Lake #1.  You can actual see the raindrops in the water...

Lake #2.  Only created when there's too much rain.  Like today.

I'd much rather rain than snow.  I don't think Atticus agrees.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Real quick

A quick shot of my mom's birthday present....

The lines in the middle are actually hidden pockets.  I'm pretty impressed with the way it turned out.

I finally get to post this - its been sitting around for almost a month!  Happy birthday (yesterday), mom!

Every now and then,
when the world sits just right,
a gentle breath of heaven
fills my soul with delight...
~ Hazelmarie ‘Mattie’ Elliott

Some things

Some things are coming together.

And some things are still up in the air.

I love mankind - it's people I can't stand.  ~ Charles M. Schulz

Stress

About a week ago I looked at an article on holiday stress.  I fit 9 out of the 10 symptoms for holiday stress.  Of course I scoffed at it..."Thats not holiday stress.  That's JOB stress."

I think now I've phased into being holiday stressed.  I'm vascillating between unmotivated and motivated and idea-less and random amazing ideas.  My sleep schedule is so messed up I have to check my phone to see if its AM or PM.  I can't seem to find any ideas or inspiration. 

At one point I was starting to panic, which is not good.  I tried to ask myself, "Why am I panicking about something silly?".  Unfortunately, having conversations with yourself doesn't always mean you'll get an answer.  And telling myself that my panic was unjustified was in no way a relief. 

I tried to step back and take a deep breath.  That didn't work.  So instead, I plowed ahead with one project I knew would take me a little less than forever...one that I didn't even know how it would turn out if it actually worked out.  (This was one of my random brilliant ideas that came to me at work when I was daydreaming about not being at work).  Well, so far so good.  Of course, its currently drying on a hanger in my bathtub, so after that, we'll see.  That gave me enough motivation to keep plugging away...  So then I made something yesterday...or was it last night?  This morning?  Anyways, I made something within the last 24 hours that I made just for fun.  Its a Christmas present, but I needed to make something cool.  That helped.

I also ended up just making a purchase at fabric.com.  That takes care of several more people.  The stress in this instance will be whether I receive the fabric in time....the one time I'm willing to pay for express shipping and they don't offer it.  What in the world. 

So, I'm down to 3 people I'm completely idea-less for.  I mean, completely without any possible ideas.  But since spending some money tonight seems to have helped maybe I'll go spend some tomorrow too.

And really, there is no reason for me to be stressed.  So what if I win "the world's worst aunt because she couldn't figure out what to make so she bought something instead" award?  That wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.  And last year I sent my best friend's Christmas present out in February I think it was.  Panic and anxiety pay no attention to logic, though.  I'll just have to muddle through it.   Oh, and cross my fingers that the USPS is good to me. 

Can you guess what it is?

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want. ~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Vacation

I am officially on vacation.  Let the Christmas sewing frenzy begin...

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. ~ Earl Wilson