Christmas Crazy

Morning,

Just checking my list of things to do before the holiday crazy begins. We all have those lists even if it's just in our heads. Who's on our Christmas shopping list, when will you have time to write that letter to go into the cards. What events will be happening that we need to plan for. And how is one going to pay for it all. So the crazy begins. Each year I swear we set ourselves up to drive ourselves and our loved ones crazy. For example I am thinking about my cards and letter but before I even get fingers to the computer low and behold my first Christmas card will be in the mail box from my mother. How this crazy lady does it every year still amazes me, but hers will be our first card and that's my Que to get my butt in gear and send out the cards. Could do it today but know I will wait until next week before it's done. And that's how we set ourselves up for the crazy. Now don't get me wrong my Christmas shopping is done yes you read that right. I start on boxing day for the next year. Sales baby Sales. Plus picking things up all year helps to spread the cost over the year rather than during November and December. This allows our family to do more with out having to pay in the next year. Planning ahead always. So my plan for this year is to keep it simple ( Laughing so hard right now) Okay yes I am keeping it Simple -  which in my world this year it means to Share , Implement, Multi task, Plan, Laugh and Enjoy. Keeping it Simple. So no stressing ones self out cause the tree is not perfect or those cookies are a  little burnt . Over the last couple of years I have come to figure out that no you don't need to decorate upstairs and downstairs, each room does not have to reflect the season it just needs to be clean for your company. Your friends are coming to visit you so  if there is a cookie to offer wonderful if not I am sure the company is still much better . So you can see the plan forming evil laugh, yes my friends will becoming over to bake , my family will decorate the tree together even if it takes until Christmas eve to get everyone in the same province and we will enjoy it. Now lets see if I can keep it simple .

 Right now finishing up a quilt for JD's girlfriend , have Christmas towels to finish sewing, Have to arrange Christmas party for the wonderful women I sew with on Fridays , well you get the picture. On the bright side already ahead of the game because it's still November. Now to get off this machine and start working on a class sample. This Sunday am teaching all day so if you want to come play and make a Secret Santa to give or keep come play with me at My Sewing Room, thinking the class still has space (call the store for more information)  Promise it will be done before Christmas. So there you have it my plans, so what do you have planned and will you drive yourself crazy?

To Label or Not ??



Inner Animal Workshop

Well I have no idea where the month went. I swear between work, kids, husband and my life in general this month has flown by as it is I still have paperwork and GST to deal with before the end of the month. At least the government fixed the $64,000 dollar error on their part. Can you imagine getting that bill needless to say I was not a happy camper that day. Where would one come up with that kind of cash? But I am not the only person dealing with government screw ups. My friend J had to spend the last month proving that they had a third child whom is in grade 12.  I figured after the sixth trip into their offices I would be pulling my shirt up and showing the stretch marks lmao all in fun J.

 So this month I started teaching we had an amazing weekend of sewing and I think the ladies took something away with them. It was fun and scary all at the same time. I have also opened my studio up so if you care to come and sew with me your more than welcome. My first victim (pardon student) evil evil laugh was J. She took the workshop but since she does not own a machine or tools she came to finish her quilt at the studio. Well let me tell you for a girl that just turned 13 this month she did an great job. She finished her quilt including the binding and label. Okay we sewed the binding by machine which saved us much time. But I swear I have been doing more and more binding by machine these days. Unless the quilt is heading to a show or it's something really special to the machine it goes. Don't get me wrong I love doing binding by hand. The other thing is labels. Please quilters start doing labels. Matt Sparrows the man quilter bought a hand quilted quilt at VV yesterday for $20 dollars someone went to a lot of work on this quilt for it to end up having no voice. I told J while she was finishing her label that yes this was her first larger quilt , it's from a pattern but the thing that makes her quilt special is the label. It tells a story of the journey she took as a young girl. So the next owner will look at the quilt with different eyes. They are going to understand this was her first quilt, she is just learning so yes the stitching may not be perfect, it's not totally square but it's a right of passage. This teen has fallen in love with quilting and already planning her next quilt. (So if you know of someone getting rid of a sewing machine get back to me cause I would love to be able to help her along the way ) Any ways that has been this month hard to believe that it's almost over. I did finish my GST yesterday and filed it on line lets see how that works.
Now while the kids are watching movies today I may be able to get some invoicing done. Then tomorrow spend the day invoicing and decorating the yard. Rod is gone until Monday then home for five days then gone again. He says he has a ton of paperwork for me which means I need to clear up what is sitting here in my office. I swear it never ends. My question for the day is this, if a man and a woman had the same chore list what would be the time frame for completion for both of them??? Evil laugh just wondering cause I know my husband works hard but sometimes my family doesn't see what all has been done. Enjoy the day love to hear your views.

Winds of change.

Morning, taking a break from kids & quilting. Spent the morning dropping the kids off at school playing with the two that are here all day then back to school to pick up the kindergarten kids.  Will have to start thinking about lunch but that can wait while I type this and  drink my first cup of coffee. Fall is a time for change, the leaves change color , the air is changing where you can feel the winter winds coming. The kids are back to school and learning and moving into another stage of their lives. This year is no different in our house. Jordan is now 18 in university and well do I need to say it moving into another stage of his life. His schedule makes it so there are days when one does not see him. This did not bother me until this week when Rodney headed out of town on Sunday. This week it has basically been just me and the dog at home dealing with everything, which is nothing new but I have had a ton to deal with. This summer we had two hail storms roll in and needless to say our roof did not survive or that is what the guys said when they checked our roof. So dealing with insurance and adjusters, then will have to find a roofing company to do the work before the snow flies. Then my mom fell , well between her doctor and aide's phone calls I swear the phone was connected to my ear. We have finally convinced my mother that she really does need a phone. This is something we all have been working on for years but Doris (mom) would have nothing to do with a phone. So yesterday I spent hours on the phone making the arrangements to have one installed and me being billed so Doris does not see the bill. Well even my mother has come to the conclusion that her life is changing due to her age. Now on reflection I have an aging parent that is going to be needing more and more but with her medical history one can't move her closer to be able to deal with issues first hand. Tkg I have set into place some great people.  Change sometimes is a good thing and other times not so much. This October my little world is also going to change. I will be teaching part time, it's a small step but I am really looking forward to stretching my brain muscles for a change. And last month I designed my first quilt pattern so even I am trying to evolve. Small changes I know but still changes. Question of the day what changes are you experiencing and are they good changes? They say we need to shake things up a bit to evolve what do you think? Just a thought, now guess I should go make lunch for the kids, finish my class sample that is due today and get on with my day. Go enjoy yours because you know mine will be full fun and crazy.

Magic Fence

Morning All, well my magic fence has done it's job again. Okay for those that don't know I live at the end of a block so the alley runs beside my house then sidewalk and the main street in our community. When I need to get rid of something I put the item or items beside our fence. Well let me tell you this fence has magical powers cause it doesn't matter what I put there it's gone with in minutes. Yesterday I was in Purge mode, three trips to the thrift store, many trips across the street to sneak garbage into the neighbors bin. They are doing Reno's so they have one of those large bins on the front yard at the moment. Evil laugh Steve whom was helping me purge filled that bin. Good thing I don't know these people. But the items that really one could have sold or given away needed somewhere to go, so beside the fence they went. Large kennel , 150 pound punching bag, furniture , wood, shelving you name it those items where placed.  Well today is trash day so around I go with my recycle box and what do you know but everything was gone cleared away nowhere to be found. I am loving that fence. So yes I am at it again purging, watching my friend move and pack up junk made me look at our home and think if we had to move would one take what was in this house? Sunday ten bags of cloths and misc. items left the house, Tuesday Steve and I cleaned out the storage room and back closet. Like I said three trips where made to Value Village to donate. And today two more bags are in my truck ready to go . Last night all the shelves where removed from the hall closet and back closet then painting until 2:00 am this morning. Crazy I know but Jigsaw is coming in today to organize all my closets. They did such an amazing job with the studio three weeks ago that I am having them back to help get the stuff that is behind closed doors organized. Well me being me I would clean my home before the cleaning lady came ( no I don't have a cleaning lady sigh) so purging , cleaning and painting where all done saves time and money. So today should be fun wonder how much more I will purge think we are all done but one never knows when I get in this mode. Now I know that for the most part the things in my home are things that one wants around. My poor husband has no idea what I have been up to but I have not touched his closet (yet evil evil laugh) Plans for the rest of my week, finish up paperwork and invoicing so Rod doesn't have a cow, do class samples so Anne doesn't have a cow and somewhere in there get some sleep (Fat chance) So for those that are reading this and drinking your coffee have I made you tired?? Have a great day.

To Hire an Organizer ??

Well where has the summer gone? Mine has been so full one has not had time to have people over for a BBQ but that will change in the next couple of weeks we hope. Well let me tell you what I did last week even though I was sick as a dog. I hired an Organization company called Jigsaw Organization Inc.  Now I really did not know how they where going to turn my studio into something that would work better as for years I tried  everything to keep my fabrics safe, my threads in order all the beads, paints and art supplies in some kind of manageable order. Like most quilters we get into our space pull things out to find that perfect fabric then when we look up our working area looks like it blew up . And let me tell you I hate working in a mess so before I can start playing the area gets cleaned first which limits my play time ( things like family , house work, real work and the  dog seem to need my attention ). Well that was where Sharon and her gang promised to do there best . I kept telling her that she was missing a whole market of women that need her help but would not part with the tools of the trade. So she offered to come into my world and see what a quilter needed and what was so different about our little breed . The first visit I walked them through my world where most of my spare time is spent. (Yes even I have spare time ) . I clashed a little with the one lady because she wanted to remove the dogs bed as if I would let that happen, Luna is always close by . And she wanted my small fridge out.  When they left I was worried about what I had let myself in for ahhh. Then Sharon came back in a couple of days with their proposal, and walked me through what they wanted to do. She really wanted to hang all my fabric lmao. for those quilters can you imagine! Sharon laughed at me cause she said the look on my face needless to say hangers went to the side as not in this life time. I showed her how one goes about picking fabric for a project and it was clear how hangers just would not work. But these are the things she needed to find out so she could help over quilters.
Now is where I stepped up and once Sharron left I emptied my space cleaned everything out. I tore out the closet and fixed holes then painted. Borrowed a van and to Costco I went and bought the wall units that are now in the studio. Had talked to Sharron about them (it was her van) and JD and I built the Units. My son grumbled the whole time but I told him I was not paying someone good money for something we could do ourselves. Now in Jigsaws quote they had figured in doing all this, but me,  being a control freak  I  needed to do my part. Evil laugh. Plus really did need to try and keep the bill where I could justify it. On Thursday when the Ladies arrived it was ready for them to do their magic. Sharon had a speech planned just in case I got in the way. And off they went , I swear the three of them worked non stop all day folding sorting and just made my area sing. We purged a lot, now they normally take everything away but I said no way as all the books I had and magazines would be loved by my quilting friends. So I loaded them up into my car to take to the shop. ( The ladies where on them like white on rice). It was amazing I had purged before Jigsaw came cause I bought the new desks and got rid of a ton but still six bags went to my van. No Fabric was hurt in the process. Nothing I needed, would use, or valued left. Yes some purging was done and I was honest regarding my books and what really I needed to keep.(Nothing came back into the space after they left). The ladies took the garbage away so that it was not by my fence all week, they took some containers that I no longer needed that they could use and they left with me doing the Happy Dance over my new space. So when my husband saw the space here is what I told him . I had been trying to get this space to work for me for three yrs. My projects where always organized but the rest did not work well at all. Was it worth the expense ? Yes and then some! It's clean, bright, organized, homes for everything and anyone can find what they need in this space. I can now create with out making a huge mess, there is space to teach and work . What more could I ask for. So for those that need some help consider hiring an Organization company if your in Calgary contact me I can hook you up to some amazing Ladies.

Keeping in touch.

Afternoon , Just taking a break from working on the long arm. Trying to challenge myself and expand my skills but it all takes time and practice. Doing laundry , listening to the television and enjoying a simple Sunday. Later will be burning burgers on the BBQ. Okay will not burn them but that's the plans for the day.
So yesterday we hosted a dinner for friends that are moving from Calgary to Saskatoon. We had a great time lots of people, great food good company. Our friends where saying we would have to come visit them. Which got me to thinking. Bad thing I know. Anyways they are moving about six hours away. Guess that's not far but would I make the trip? Sorry to say don't think it will happen. My in laws live only four hours away and I can count how many times we have visited in the last five years on one hand. Not that we don't love them it's just life. It seems between kids sports, work , chores and just running the house and gardens time just flies by. Just seems  you almost have to plan for a drive . Rod wants to do more car trips but I hate being in the car for more than an hour . We have friends in Kelowna and still have not made it to their home , would like to but scheduling seems to be an issue. We have other friends that just hop in their car and go leave Saturday come home Sunday and just  go with the flow. Mind you I look at our life and understand why it's hard getting away. In the next month all our weekends are filled with one thing or another that we can't change . Thank goodness for our back yard. For those that have never been to our little slice of heaven come all are welcome. Well guess that was all that was on my mind. Just wondering if other people have that problem when friends move. Do we keep in contact or do we lose it. Face book has made it so that I am now in contact with people I have not seen in years or that matter decades. Just something to get you to thinking.

Organizing

Morning,
Well back from vacation had a great time in New York. What a great city and we will go back in the future My husband said we would be making another trip just the two of us in the next couple of years.
 So today I hired an organizer. I have a friend that runs a company that specializes in organizing ones home, office and what ever you need. This is something one would not picture me needing but my studio gets clean then before one knows it well it looks like a boom went off in it. Plus I am a visual person so if I can't see it well out of site out of mind. Thinking it's time to get professionals in so that my studio is always clean and workable. Can't seem to work in it if it's a mess so some days will spend an hour cleaning so can play for two hours to have the mess all over again.. Evil laugh just how I work. So hoping this helps. We are trading services instead of handing over cash. This is how we have been saving money and still getting what we need done .  Got the fence done, gave our friend Denise's name to a few friends and he got so much work he did our fence for free. Works for us that's for sure. With the purse strings being so tight these days for a lot of us it's nice to be able to exchange services instead of cash. How are you saving money would love to hear idea's on ways to save. Plus anyways to keep my studio clean would be helpfull. Now guess one should see what needs to get done go wake up the kid then deal with my day. Chat later.