Long time no blog

Hi all. It has beena long time since my last entry.
I fell out of hte habit about the same time I fell off
the Weight Watchers wagon. I had been using htis as
as additional accountability feature. I should have
kept it up even after I left the group.

Oh well, on to new things and to new goal.
Next February my church has its annual
missions trip to LaRomana in the Dominican Republic.
I am going to go with them. Now the cost is huge and
way out of my reach, but a very generous lady has offered to
pay for most of it. All I have to do is get my
passport and the shots. That still leaves a chuck of change to
come up with. I figure about $600.00 or so.
I am asking that all friends and family that want to
make a small contribution toward this missions trip
instead of birthday gifts or anything like that.
I am so excited and I stil have a year to wait.

The other big project is going to be getting in shape for
the trip. It is very warm down there and right now my
weight would make that very uncomfortable for me.
My goal is to be at or under 200lbs by the trip.
That is very doable, but I will need your help.
Please do not offer me goodies and treats that are not healthy.
I am weak willed and will not say no. I give you freely
my permission to ask me what I am doing if you see me
eating things that are bad for me. :) I may grumble, but
just remind me that I said you could tell me about it.
I am also going to try to improve my cardio health this
year by walking as much as I can to as many places
as I can. Feel free to join me for a nightly walk if you want.
My goal is to get back to walking 4 miles at a time at least
two times a week plus a small 1 mile walk 3 times a week.

On the crafting front I have many, many unfinished
projects to work on. Scarves, shawls, and an almost 2 year old single
fingerless glove. One day it might have a mate. There is always
hope. Due to my goal to save money for my trip I am
going to try to severly limit my yarn purchasses this year.
If you however wish to do so for me, I shall gladly accept. :)
I love Noro, Malabrigo, Peacefleece, Alpaca, and oh so many more.

I am in another round of swap on a budget.
A great group of people that each have a goal of
spending $20.00 to put together a nice package for another person.
With that in mind and in case my spoiler is reading
2nd hand books are great in my opinion. I am very open to
anything you think I might like. I will try to post more often
during the swap to help you get to know me a little better.
I would love a water bottle holder or a felted coffee mug
sleeve. Just a coulpe ideas in case you are looking. :)

Well, this is a lot longer than I had planned so I had better close it off for now.
Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Sheila

recovery / swaps / is it holiday time?

Next time I open my mouth to offer my help with someone elses project, would one of you all stuff a sock in me. I loved helping, but it took sooooooo much more time than I had anticipated.
I was guessing at 4 or 5 hours, it turned into almost 48 total.
She was very gratefull, and rewarded me for my help, but wow.

I love me my yarn swaps and projects. My current swap I am in Swap on a Budget is slow going this round. My spoilee has not posted but a very few times making it hard to decide what to get her. I have a "generic" box of goodies ready, but wanted to make it personal and special just for her.
On the Spoiler front, I have no clue whi it is and that is half the fun. I have been trying to be chatty enough on theboards, as well as post here about my yarn goings on to help them. I hoep they have enough to go on.
I might be picking uip a great dresser to hold all my yarn this afternoon. It is 68" long, 18" deep and 30" high. It has 9 drawers to be filled with yarny goodness. I hope one day to have it filled that is. Right now I could fill some of it, but not anywhere near all. It will be nice to be able to spread out my yarn by type and color though.

I am ready for the holidays to begin please. I love the cooking and family time of Thanksgiving, and the Peace and Comfort that came to us through Jesus at Christmas. This is going to be a happy holiday season this year as I am focusing on feelings not things. I as well as most people I know have more than enough things in their lives. It is time to get back in touch with our feelings. Maybe mend a bridge or two with family, maybe reach out to some friends. One never knows where the spirit of the heart might lead.

The ICK

Funny how something as simple as a cold can make you feel so rundown.
The simplest tasks suddenly feel very complicated.
Yesterday I ran 3 small errands, but it took almost 3 hours and I just wanted to crash when I was done. I did go home and have a nap.
I actually am a big fan of naps. It is amazing what a good 30 minutes can do to revitalize your day. I would schedule one in my daily plans if that were possible.

On the crafting front there is not much going on.
I have 2 scarves to work on, and 5 dishcloths to make.
I also have a special someone that I want to make a shawl for, but that is on hold for a few days.
I just received my last sp12 box in the mail and it had some very pretty sock yarn in it. That means I need to bite the bullet and make some socks, or at least try to.
I was a very bad girl and ordered some great yarn ina super bulky to make myself a felted bag.
I can't wait for it to arrive.

Well, thats about it in my world for now. If you stop by, feel free to leave me a note.
Oh, and please be prayign for a friend that is going through surgery, and a small boy who is very ill.

Swap On A Budget Fall Edition

Yeah, my favorite swap has started up round 3. I am so enjoying this one.
I have had great spoilers both times before this and am sure I will again this time also.
I love the stalking involved with learning about the new person I get to spoil all for $20.00.
That makes it both challenging and fun.
So far my new spoilee is not posting much at all. That does make it more difficult. Still doeable, but difficult.

Now for info that my spoiler might be able to use.
hmmmmmmmmmm
Reynolds lite lopi is a new fvorite yarn for me to work with.
I have very little of it and would welcome more in almost any color.
I love Noro yarn all versions.
I am in love with all the colorways that have purple in them. :)
I like office supplies alot.
I enjoy a bunch of little things from dollar stores as treats. (note to self remind hubby of that.)
I usually fixate on a new stitch or pattern till I have it as close to perfect as I can get it.
A stitch a day type thingy for crochet would be awesome.

I am actually easily pleased and just enjoy hte process quite often.
I know I will love anything you get me.
I will try to post something each week to help you in case you get stuck for ideas.

GRRRRRRRRRRR

Strange title I know, but work rant on the way.
At work they always want me to keep them informed of when groups are comign so that they can plan accordingly. But do theyreciprocate NO!!!!!
Today I have not 1 or 2 but 3 groups using the building nad they have a man out there painting all thje doors and frames. I mean come on. Use logic. Wet paint na many hand needing to open doors = disaster. To top it off the "painter" had no wet paint signs to put up.
Rand ove and I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Ups and Downs

Let me start by saying that Weight Watchers works when you follow the program.
I however have not been following the program, which is why I was up 3/4 of a pound this week.
I took a pulled muscle as an excuse to eat more instead of being just as if not more careful than normal. Now I know that it is a very good thing to write down what I eat so I can see patterns and try to make corrections, but I have been really slack about that recently.
Tonight I had the offer to stay home from the meeting because I knew I was going to be up a bit. Well, I needed to go to a meeting more than ever because of being up.
The support, advice and tips one gets are inaluable to success.
Till next week..............

SP12 question 13

First of all, please forgive the lack of updates.
I have been dealing with a few inor health issues.
They have been more annoying than anything else, but did not put me in a blogging mood.

If you were told you could never again buy yarn, would would your last yarn purchase be?
As much malibrigo as I could afford.

If you were told you could never crochet again, what would be the last thing you’d knit??
Probabbly a toss up between one last prayer shawl, and an afgan.

In a given year, how many times do you buy yarn? At least twice a month.

And what is your favorite place to buy yarn from? A festival? A shop? Online? Yes, all of the above.

Dish your favorite places!! Sage gifts and yarn, etsy shops espically Georgiegirl's, and anywhere I see a good deal.

Lastly, with Fall in full swing in many areas, what is the one thing you look forward to most? The cooler weather and the chance to work on some heavier projects.

For the most part SP12 has been a good time. I look for SP14 as SP13 comes at a bad time of year for me.